To Seek An Arabian Treasure
by QuirkQuirk
Summary: Halfway around the world in an exotic Arabian oasis, Trowa was merely intending to acquire a priceless addition to his circus, but he ends up getting much more than he came for… TrowaQuatre AU COMPLETE
1. A Whole New World

**Author's Notes:** Lately I've been getting back into Gundam Wing. I blame the fact that my friend sent me this amazing GW fanfiction archive a week or so ago and BAM. I'm lost in it, remembering why I, and so many other people, love this fandom. I've got them G-boys on my brain, yo.

…And then the other day I'm minding my own business, walking to class listening to music, and a song about an Arabian princess comes on, and I'm listening to it and enjoying it a lot, and then all of a sudden… the entire basis for this fic just hits me like a ton of bricks. It was my calling, nay, my _DUTY_ as an avid Gundam Wish slasher to write this.

Mission accepted. XD

**The disclaimer!** Hahaha, if I owned the rights to Gundam Wing, there would be even more blatant underlying homoerotica themes than there already are. XD

**Pairings:** Trowa/Quatre main, hint of Heero/Duo on the side, and a teensie weensie bit of Zechs/Wufei, cause that boy needs love too.

**Summary:** Halfway around the world, in an exotic Arabian oasis, Trowa was merely intending to acquire a priceless addition to his circus, but he ends up getting much more than he came for… TrowaQuatre AU

**Warnings:** Boyxboy stuff, and me being totally n00btastic about Arabia. I feel all weeaboo writing about it, except I guess "weeaboo" isn't the right word. Arabia…boo? Whatever, just don't hassle me about any of the numerous cultural slaughterings I may or may not have typed out. XD Also, my apologies for semi emo!Trowa in the beginning. It's justified and not long lasting, I promise.

**Other stuff: **Music that influenced this fic is: "Princess of Egypt" by E-Type, "1001 Nights" by Ch!pz, and "Carillon", the Gigi D'Augustino and Gabre Ponte mixes. Honestly, do I write ANYTHING without music in mind these days?

**.o.**

**.o.O.o**

**To Seek An Arabian Treasure**

**.o.O.o.**

**.o.**

Trowa shifted uncomfortably atop his strange, humped beast. Camels always seemed to be some sort of faraway joke, a stereotype of the Middle East that was worth a quick laugh, but not dwelled upon. And yet here he found himself – in the middle of a desert, atop a most awkward creature, relying on it as his only mode of transportation.

Of course, it did help that he wasn't alone. Riding a few yards ahead of him were two other boys, both brunettes, both as shirtless as he himself was, and both on creatures as awkward as his own. One had a messy mop of messy chocolate locks plastered down around his face from the heat, the other had a length of waist-length chestnut hair tied into a braid, which was currently twisted up into a strange sort of messy bun to keep it off of his sticky, sweaty neck and back. Heero and Duo. His best friends. Only friends, really. Certainly the only two people in the universe who would be willing to travel halfway around the world with him on such a foolish endeavour.

They were in the middle of Arabia. There were occasional respites of civilization in the country – of plants or animals or water or any other indication of life – but at the moment it was just them, in a dry, never-ending sea of tan and beige and dull yellows. No water, no trees, no shade, just sand. Sand as far as the eye could see, as endless as the mind could imagine. Sand, sand, sand, and more _sand_.

Ahead of them, their guide and his steed – a magnificent Arabian horse of the finest blood and upbringing – plowed on. The guide didn't talk much, or express many emotions, which to Trowa should have been a familiar personality (given Heero's apparent emotional separation from the rest of the world) but with the Chinese male's sharp features and dignified aura it seemed like a completely new and unapproachable personality all it's own. Nothing like Heero's familiar stoic nature. The man was all business, and not very pleasant business, at that. At least in Trowa's highly biased opinion. Wufei, as he was called, was leading them in the exact opposite direction away from where Trowa wanted to be, where his heart still was. Left behind.

He'd gotten what he'd come for, though… hadn't he? Trowa cast a glance to the gazelle-like animal harnessed to his camel's saddle, dutifully trudging along with their wayward group. The Arabian Oryx, one of the rarest mammals in the world. Not only that, but this particular specimen was tamed – hand reared since birth in the Prince's palace.

With a wince he turned away from the captivating creature, not wanting to dwell on the association it carried. Flicking a strand of honey-brown hair from his unibang out of his eye, Trowa dug his heels into his beast's sides, urging it forward to join with Heero and Duo. The Oryx gave a plaintive bleat of displeasure, hurrying its trots to keep up.

"Yo, Tro!" Duo greeted with a grin as Trowa pulled up alongside the pair. "Me an' Heero were starting to wonder if you were running low on gas or something back there. Need to stop in at the next station and fill 'er up?"

"Ha ha ha." Trowa replied in perfect monotone, unable to help the slight upwards quirking of lips that Duo always seemed to have the power to bring about, no matter how dire the situation. "Very funny, Duo." Heero let out a snort of complete unamusement at the banter, urging his mount forward to escape from the idiocy which was Duo. The braided boy rolled his eyes, still grinning, and watched the slight bounce to Heero's retreating figure before turning his attention back to Trowa, his expression sobering slightly.

"But really, Trowa… you alright? Cause like… I know you've gotta be pretty hurting right now, but it's not showing and it's no good to keep everything bottled up inside until it explodes, you know?"

Trowa looked away, unable to keep his eyes locked on to Duo's searching gaze. He wasn't… he wasn't brooding exactly, he was just… keeping it to himself. "I'm fine, Duo." Trowa assured his friend, and although the younger male didn't look convinced, he let the subject drop and left Trowa to his thoughts by catching up to Heero, who didn't look pleased at the arrival of company.

The Latin male chose to lag behind again. Risking another tentative glance at the Oryx, looking gentle and cooperative even with its rope harness tugging it along whether it wanted to go or not, Trowa couldn't help but let his thoughts wander back to how this whole fiasco had begun, and how he never in a million years would have expected it to play out the way it did…

**.o.**

**….…..o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o………**

"Trowa… Trowa, where are you?"

The lanky male looked up from where he was sprawled across the floor, leaning back against the broad side of the circus's large, male lion. Getting up slowly so as to not startle the great beast, he made his way to the cage door, bringing his hands up to clutch at the bars on either side of his face, peering through them in the direction the voice had come from.

"In here, Cathy." He called back, seeing his sister figure come around the corner, looking confused at first before rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Honestly, Trowa, you treat that cat like a… well, like a _cat_. He's a lion, he doesn't need coddling."

"Doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy the attention." Trowa returned, a slow smirk curling his lip. Catherine sighed, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yes, yes, alright." She conceded. "Just get out of there for a minute, I need to ask you something, and I feel weird talking at you through bars, like you're one of the monkeys."

Cracking the cage door open just enough to slip out, and looking behind himself to keep tabs on the great cat (who merely indulged in a wide, fang-bearing yawn), Trowa eased out, locking the door and leaning back against the bars as he prepared himself to listen to whatever it was Cathy had to say.

"So then." She began, flicking a brown curl out of her face. "How familiar are you with the Arabian Oryx?"

Trowa raised an eyebrow in interest. It was an interesting conversation starter, to be sure. "Not very. I know they're a gazelle-like animal, native to Saudi Arabia. Pretty rare, I think."

"The Arabian Oryx." Cathy began, in a voice that suggested Trowa was about to be filled in on more than he ever cared to know about the species. "Is one of the rarest mammals in the world, native to desert and steppe areas of the Arabian peninsula. They have long, ringed, straight horns, and it's said that the legend of the unicorn originated from these animals, given their luminous white coats, and the fact that – when viewed in profile – it can appear as though they have a single horn."

Trowa nodded, interested in what he was hearing so far. And it seemed as though Cathy was not done just yet.

"They're smart, too. They rest during the hottest parts of the day, and they can sense rainfall and migrate towards it because their ranges are huge, usually about 3,000 square kilometres. They were hunted to extinction in the wild by 1729, and even then, their in-captivity population wasn't strong. In short, this is a very rare, very special animal we're talking about."

Catherine seemed to be done speaking for the moment, finished with dishing out the facts and figures, but it was obvious she had more to say on the matter of the Arabian Oryx. Apparently she desired for Trowa to drag it out of her.

"So then…" he prompted.

"So." Catherine pointedly echoed. "It would be quite an opportunity to get ahold of one, wouldn't you think?"

"Ah." Trowa was starting to get an idea of where this was going, but before he could verbally deduce it for himself, Catherine was continuing.

"It just so happens that the prince of Arabia himself has a small, private, captive herd . And is _also_ just so happens that he has heard of our circus, and as we are world renound, and have a reputation for keeping good care of our nearest and dearest… taking everything into account, he has offered to cut us a deal that would land us with one of them beauties."

The unibanged boy had known it was coming, but the news was still impressive, laid out like that. A nagging questioned still lingered in the back of his mind, though, and he had to voice it.

"So when you say 'cut a deal'…"

Catherine paused in thought, thinking of how to put it. "Well, the animal is essentially ours, right now as we speak. So bargaining for it isn't the problem…"

Trowa had a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Ah… well… How are we going to get it here?"

Catherine smirked, a mischievous glint in her eye that did not bode well for Trowa's immediate future.

"Trowa… how do you feel about traveling by camel?"

**...o.O.o…**

It hadn't taken much convincing to get Duo to accompany him on his halfway-around-the-world adventure, and someway, somehow, Duo had managed to persuade Heero along as well. Trowa honestly hadn't the slightest clue how Duo held so much sway over the stoic, dark haired boy, and sometimes he was pretty sure it was better not to ask. In any case, the three found themselves shipped off, flown to a distant landing strip in the Middle East, and offloaded onto the sparse desert sands. The area seemed to have a small settlment around it, a centre of trade and other business. There were a few clumps of ragged, undernourished palm trees, and numerous hitching posts with horses and donkies and camels tied to them. Men in flowing pants and loose, open vests, and headwear that hung down around their faces and over their necks to ward of the sun's harsh rays milled about, and mysterious women drifted here and there, their faces covered, but their eyes expressive as they attempted to discreetly observe the three boys who were so obviously out of place. Words none of the boys understood floated about, rich native tongues filling the area with culture and life.

Standing with vacant, culture shocked expressions, the three friends took in their surroundings, unsure of what to say. Eventually, of course, it was Duo who broke the silence, pointing and declaring rather loudly, "Oh man! Check out the humps on that thing!"

It wasn't difficult for their arranged guide to find them, as they stuck three fish out of water, gasping and flopping uselessly out of their element. A sharp Asian male, about the same age as themselves, sought them out, greeting them with a shallow bow and an introduction. His name was Wufei, and he served under the prince. He was to be their guide, as the trek to the castle was long, and few were allowed in or out, which meant that, as foreigners, they would have had a very difficult time getting there – let alone gaining entrance – by themselves. It struck Trowa that although Wufei should appear very out of place among the native people, he fit in considerably better than they did, for his knowledge of the culture, and the fact that he was wearing traditional garments.

They were led to a hitching post at the far end of the dusty little area, and again Duo was enthralled with the strange humped transport animals that were tied up there, just for them. Heero and Trowa were a little harder to convinve onto the camels, but when Wufei explained that it was the way arranged specifically by his highness himself, they realized that they had no room for objection.

It turned out that the established area of commerse was the only realm of civilization for miles around, as Wufei led them across sanddunes and endless flat stretches of nothingness. It wasn't long before they had all taken off their shirts, tying them around their heads as makeshift headwear. Duo continued to complain loudly of the heat, which seemed to irritate Wufei, and as the man seemed to be in control of the formalities of their visit, Trowa was quick to intervine, distracting Duo into conversation while Heero silently rode alongside them, the perfect little trooper no matter the unpleasantness of their surroundings. And certainly, what could have been worse than stifling heat, glaring rays of sun, no shade, no water, only open stretches of sand ahead and behind and miles and miles to either side? Not to mention a loudmouthed American intent on blabbering his head off.

It took nearly all day, but by the time the sun was hanging low in the sky, casting an orange glow across the land, the grand palace finally came into view, standing proudly as an oasis of royalty and wealth that seemed to be flourishing with life and abundance in an otherwise desolate and barren wasteland. A tall, strong wall surrounded the palace, and there were guards at the gates, but with only a nod from Wufei, Trowa and Heero and Duo were let through with no questions asked.

The three travelers suddenly found themselves in a lush garden, and it was such a shocking and abrupt change in landscape that they were momentarily taken aback, gazing with wide eyes at their new surroundings. Thick, green grass carpeted areas of the open yard, and palm trees with deep green fronds stood tall and proud in little clusters. Vines crawled along the walls with bright, blooming flowers, some of which had shut for the night, and birds of paradise sprouted out of the ground, their elegant petals looking sharp and dangerously beautiful. It seemed that the area was designed to look mostly natural, but there were numerous fountains flowing into man-made creeks with pleasant bubbling, trickling, adding a touch of human intervention and refined civilization. As well, there were some hanging cages suspended from tree branches and wires, each filled with a few small, colourful birds that made quiet chirping sounds as the wayward group passed them by.

Led through pathways lined by manicured bushes, Trowa took in the sheer lavishness of the oasis that was the prince's palace. Long shadows cast everything into an air of distorted reality, casting shapes and colours in ways that were simply tricks of the light. Everything held a mystical allure in its uncertainty, and even as the three boys were ushered inside, Trowa sent one last look back over his shoulder into the one-of-a-kind gardens.

The moment he turned back to observe his new surroundings, the green eyed boy once again found himself astonished with the magnitude and beauty of the setting. Tall pillars stretched to the high ceiling, and gorgeous, detailed images and script that he didn't quite understand had been painted onto the walls. The floor had an intricate tiled pattern laid out, ceramic squares in deep reds and blues and purples. Ancient, valuable art pieces and vases and sculptures provided points of interest, and numerous hallways and stairways wound around the interiour, leading off into other, certainly just as interesting and wonderful places contained inside the palace. Trowa was speechless, and it appeared as though his comrades shared similar feelings, judging by the looks on their faces. Duo's mouth hung open, aghast, and even Heero's eyes were wide, taking everything in.

When the three comrades had been led into the centre of the grand entry, Wufei stopped and turned to face them, bowing low and announcing in an inspiring voice:

"Welcome to the royal palace of the prince of Arabia."

Trowa realized some sort of response was warranted, some sort of "thank you" or a "so nice of you to have us", but for the life of him he couldn't work up the sense of mind to voice what he was feeling. Growing up in a circus, Trowa had always had an appreciation of the mysterious, the fascinating, the beautiful, and the utterly impressive, but this… this was above and beyond anything he had ever before seen or even imagined in his wildest daydreams in the lion's cage. The discomfort and awkwardness of the day was immediately forgiven and forgotten, such was the reward for being in the palace. Just as Trowa was beginning to find his tongue, to express his utmost appreciation to Wufei for guiding them here, Duo was quicker to catch his voice up to his thoughts, letting out an impressed whistle, which sounded so crude and out of place in such a refined environment.

"Nice place you got here!" he observed, wandering over to a painted porcelain vase, leaning in only inches away from its glossy surface.

"Many thinks for your… appreciation." Wufei replied, wincing at the braided boy's close proximity to what must have been a priceless royal heirloom. "Now if you'll just follow me, I'll show you to your rooms, and…"

"Wufei?"

A clear, elegant voice drifted around the corner, questioning the identity of who had been speaking. The Asian male's eyes widened for a moment before he quickly went into action, dragging Duo away from the valuables, and straightening the three visitors into a line, straightening their rumpled, travel tattered clothing.

"Yes, you highness, in here." He called back, slicking his hair back and straightening up in a most presentable manner. Duo mouthed a confused 'what's going on?' to his two friends, and for a moment Trowa's expression mirrored the confusion, until the owner of the voice rounded the corner.

Wufei immediately sunk to his knees, and it was all Trowa could do to keep his jaw from dropping. The most enchanting, beautiful, exotic human being he had ever seen was approaching them, a serene smile gracing elegant features, and as Wufei glared back at them to join him on their knees, the unibanged boy was glad for the command, because he was feeling a little unsteady on his feet.

Sometimes, in the circus, exotic bellydancers would perform, meant to enchant and seduce the onlooking audience. They wore small strips of silk on only the most necessary of places, the rest of their bodies clad in light, nearly transparent scarves and wraps, little bells and other jingling trinkets hanging from the material, and attached to lengths of ribbon around their neck and ankles. Trowa had always found them to be quite beautiful, captivating, and culturally accurate, as far as he was aware.

But now, standing right before him, was the real deal, and there was no way Trowa could have prepared himself for having such an individual appear so suddenly before him.

The newest arrival was the prince, Trowa gathered, (having heard Wufei call him "your highness") but looking at him, it was only barely discernable that he was, in fact, male. There was the matter of the upper body apparel – a deep purple, open-chested vest that was loosely tied with a length of braided silk rope in the middle – but for the rest of the ensemble… Everything was sheer layered silks and tied scarves, and belts and other various adornments of sparkling jewels and chains made of precious metals. Loose pants were fashioned out of the thin material, their colour a soft pink, and if it weren't for the deep navy sash tied around the waist, hanging in tendrils down the front and around the sides, tinkling bells tied to it's frayed edges, the prince would have had no sense of modesty for himself. Sleeves for the boy's arms were made of the same material as the pants, and fastened around his wrists and ankles were bangles and trinkets that made soft jingling noises as he moved. A velvet strip of cloth was tied across his forehead, light chains and jewels hanging down to rest just above and between his eyebrows. Upon his feet he wore a simple pair of white sandals, which clacked along the tiled floor as he approached them.

The strange part, Trowa noticed, even through his fascination with watching the other male as he moved with catlike grace, was that the boy's hair was the finest, lightest blonde, and his eyes were bright blue. He certainly didn't look as though he was native to the land, but far be it from Trowa to question royalty. Besides, the prince was almost upon him, and Trowa certainly wouldn't want the first words out of his mouth to be one that could be taken in a negatively accusing manner.

"There's no need for all of that, Wufei, I've told you before." The prince said with a smile, gesturing that they stand. "I take it these are our guests?"

"Yes, they are." Wufei replied with a bow, instinctively complying with formalities, even though it appeared as though the prince wouldn't have minded one way or the other. "They've traveled from afar to visit the palace and its prince, and I assured their safe arrival."

"Thank you, Wufei." Quatre gratefully acknowledged, a mirthful bubble of laughter in the edge of his voice. He turned his attention to the three travelers, all of whom barely resisted the urge to fidget, suddenly acutely aware of their state of dress and the fact that they were most likely quite dirty and gross from the day's journey. "I'm prince Quatre, thank you for coming. What are your names?"

"Duo! Duo Maxwell!" the violet eyed boy eagerly supplied, offering a hand out for an introductory shake. Wufei looked as though he was insulted at the overbearing gesture, but Quatre simply took the proffered hand, looking pleased.

"It's very nice to meet you." He kindly commented, before turning to Heero, who was next in line.

"Heero Yuy" the messy haired male informed the blonde in a strong, clear voice, giving a curt nod. Quatre's smile grew and he returned the nod before refocusing his gaze on the last boy in line.

"Trowa Barton." The brunet managed to get out in a quiet voice, and he couldn't think of how else to personalize himself to the introduction, not daring to extend a hand, but unable to bring himself to give something as stiff and impersonal as a nod. Quatre's expression softened, and in an equally soft voice he replied, speaking words just for Trowa.

"It's very nice to meet you."

They held eachother's gaze for a moment longer, Quatre seemingly trying to get a good evaluation of the person before him, before they broke the unofficial staring contest, Quatre looking over his shoulder to beckon Wufei to his side.

"Wufei, could you kindly see Heero and Duo to their rooms? I'd like to assure that Trowa finds his room by my own guidance."

The Chinese male nodded, gesturing that the two shorter brunets follow him, Duo immediately babbling as they headed off down one of the hallways.

"We get our own rooms! Hot dang! Usually I gotta share with Heero, and he gets all pissy. On the 'plane we had sit together, and holy crap, man, he elbowed me so hard in the stomach I thought my guts were gonna spill out the side. All I was trying to do was sleep on his shoulder, you know, cause there was nowhere else to rest me head, right? And he goes and…"

Trowa couldn't help but shake his head in amusement as Duo's incessant noise echoed loudly in the grand space. As soon as they were out of sight and out of hearing range, Trowa looked back to Quatre, who was gazing at him serenely.

"He's quite a character, isn't he?"

The words were soft, but they carried perfectly clear in the open entry. Trowa managed a sort of amused half-smile as he replied. "Yeah… he's a handful." Quatre laughed softly at that, the bells on his headpiece jangling merrily with the movement. Trowa couldn't help staring at the shorter male, and winced guiltily when he was caught.

"You're a little overwhelmed, aren't you?" the prince observed, turning to lead Trowa up a staircase, but not taking his eyes off of those of the taller boy.

"Ah…" Trowa faltered, unsure of how to respond as he fell in step. "I… I guess, yes. A little." Quatre looked pleased at the admission.

"It's alright. Everything here _is_ pretty different from what you're used to, isn't it?"

"It is." Trowa replied, relieved that the prince was acknowledging some of the in-over-his-head feelings as being completely acceptable, and even understandable.

"Just be relieved that Wufei and I speak English." Quatre put in. "Otherwise you'd be flailing about with trying to accomplish even the smallest interaction around here. Not many people here are extremely responsive to outsiders, or people who look or act differently from them."

"But you…" Trowa began, before he could help himself. Upon realizing what he was saying he immediately caught himself, shutting his mouth and flushing in embarrassment of his slip-of-tongue.

"I what?" Quatre inquired, and out of the corner of his eye Trowa could see an amused almost-smirk. "I look and act different too, is that what you were going to say?" Trowa merely nodded, not trusting himself to speak, and Quatre continued with ease, not seeming at all uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.

"I'm the youngest of thirty, the rest are all girls." Quatre began, and Trowa's eyes widened at the greatness of the number Quatre had provided. The blonde seemed to read Trowa's thoughts, and chuckled as he continued. "It's a lot, I know. My father… he kept trying for a boy, and it seemed like luck was against him. But he desperately wanted someone to succeed the throne, a male heir. Finally I came along, born to a non-Arabian mother, but nevertheless, I was a male, and as such, first in line to inherency."

"So… your father…?"

"Is the sultan." Quatre supplied, turning into a dark hallway. "He lives in the palace in the middle of the more civilized social centre of the country. I prefer it here, though, out of the public eye, and as you can see I'm more than comfortable here in my humble little home."

Trowa was a little taken aback at the last comment. With that crooked, teasing smile on his lips, it seemed as though… Quatre was poking fun at the extravagance of his own palace? It wasn't something the brunet would have expected, and it gave the prince an interesting edge to his personality. They stopped in front of an elaborate doorframe, and Quatre pushed it open, easily navigating the room, even in the dark, and made quick work of lighting some oil lamps, which cast a warm yellow glow throughout the room.

"This will be where you're staying." Quatre informed him, searching for approval, which Trowa was more than happy to give. In this light, the young prince looked even more exotic and mysterious than ever, and the brunet's gut tightened inexplicably.

"Thank you very much, it's more than wonderful."

Quatre nodded. "You're welcome. Your friends are downstairs in the first hall in the west wing on the second floor, nearly directly below you. I wanted you on the fifth floor, however."

Puzzled, Trowa furrowed his brows in a silent question of 'why?'

"I understand, mister Barton, that you are the one from the circus who wishes to obtain one of my prized animals?" A nod, responded to with a smug almost-smirk. "Well then, my room is just down the hall to your left, and up another small flight of stairs. I'd like to keep you close to me, if I may be so forward to say. I'd like to see just who it is I'm giving one of my finest creatures away to. And I daresay, come morning I'm sure you'll appreciate the view."

Trowa opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a single word out, Quatre was continuing. "I'll have some fresh garments sent to you and your friends in the morning, and after breakfast we'll have a tour of the grounds. Sleep well, Trowa."

It was all the green eyed boy could do to get out a responding "goodnight" of his own before Quatre was turning on his heel, exiting the room and leaving Trowa on his own. Shrugging off his clothing until he was in just his underwear, Trowa climbed into the luxurious bed, turning the lamp out and drifting off into dreams of sand and flowing, crystalline water and elusive Arabian princes.

**...o.O.o…**

Something was shining in his eye. A light of some sort. A very _bright_ light.

Rolling over, Trowa finally woke up enough to realize that he was most certainly not in his own bed. His own mattress certainly wasn't this big and comfortable, and so… so…

So located in an Arabian Palace.

The previous day's events washed back over him in a wave of remembrance, and Trowa was a bit taken aback to find out it hadn't all been a dream. Sitting up, he brushed some unruly hair out of his eyes, taking in his surroundings, as he hadn't gotten a very good chance the previous night, given how dark it had been with only a few flickering oil lamps to serve as a light source. No surprise, the room was as lavish and visually appealing as the rest of the palace had been, and Trowa was struck by how very _bright_ the room was during the day. It was only early morning, but the desert sun's first rays were shining in through the open window.

First things first, Trowa managed to find his way around the bathroom, intent of cleaning up after yesterdays long, sandy traveling. Feeling refreshed after a showering of cool water and a lather of scented oils, Trowa stepped back into the room to find that the bed was made, and a clean, new outfit was neatly folded and waiting for him. A bit surprised, he picked it up and let it unfurl, only to discover that it was culturally appropriate apparel – long, flowing white pants with a rich goldenrod sash, and a loose, light vest. Figuring out how to put them on took a little effort, but once it was all sorted out, Trowa discovered that they were quite comfortable to wear. Under the clothing had been a handwritten note, informing him of the time and the place when and where breakfast would be occurring. Trowa had woken up just in time.

Dressed and ready for the day, the brunet curiously headed for the open window, intent on having a look outside of it before heading down to breakfast. Pushing the thin curtains aside, he sucked in a breath at the sight that greeted him.

Quatre had been right last night, when he'd said Trowa might appreciate the view. His room was facing out towards the rising sun, and there was a balcony to step out onto. The desert sand was sparkling and glowing in the early morning light. Inside the castle walls, the gardens were astonishingly striking when viewed from above, and off to his right he could see a few stables and exercise pens containing some of the finest horses he had ever seen. Fruit-laden trees grew in small clumps here and there, decorative ornamental trees scattered in as well, and prowling among them were a few fine hunting dogs. Dogs who, Trowa supposed, also served as voraciously effective guard dogs, from the look of them. Just beyond the trees there was another enclosure of some kind, but Trowa couldn't tell what it was meant to contain.

Glancing at his watch, Trowa realized that he needed to hurry down to breakfast if he was to get there on time. It certainly wouldn't be a good idea to be late. No, that would be no good at all for a first impression.

Surprisingly, he only managed to get a _little_ lost in his search for the dining hall, and upon arrival he was greeted with a very enthusiastically awake Duo.

"Trowa! Oh man, can you _believe_ this place!" the braided boy asked, flailing his arms about in his excitement. "It's even crazier during the day! And holy hell, the _rooms_! Man, if yours was half as big as ours was… shit, man! D'ya think they'd let us move in?"

Trowa allowed a crooked smirk at Duo's enthusiasm. He noted that the violet eyed boy and Heero were also dressed in similar clothing to what he had been given, although their sashes were purple and blue, respectively. Heero looked a little rumpled, and slightly more irritated at Duo than usual, and it was then that Trowa realized something that had previously escaped his attention in Duo's analysis of the sleeping arrangements.

"Duo… when you say 'our' room… didn't you and Heero have _separate_ rooms?"

"Uh… heh heh heh…yeaaaaah… About that…" Duo sheepishly began, trailing off and looking hesitant to continue as he picked at the end of his braid.

"It appears as though _someone_ has a problem sleeping by himself in new places, regardless of how lavish the accommodations are." Heero filled in, speaking in monotone. "He came running down the hall and into my bed about fifteen minutes after we had all been settled in."

"Hey, the rooms were really big and dark, okay?" Duo retorted, by way of defending himself, hand propped on a jutting hip. Trowa sensed an argument brewing on the horizon, but thankfully the situation was defused by Quatre's appearance at the head of the table. Today he was dressed similarly to the rest of the boys, although his garbs were noticeably more elaborate, and a deep red strip of loose cloth with golden dangling trinkets was tied about his waist, a matching headpiece nestled in his blonde waves of hair. Wufei wasn't long in following his prince, and Trowa took note that his sash was green. The tall male wondered if there was any sort of meaning to the colours, if they were chosen to compliment the wearer, or if they were simply chosen at random. Quatre met his eye across the table, and Trowa quickly looked away, embarrassed to be caught staring. Even though the prince's garbs today were much more casual than they had been the previous night, there was still something about him that was so appealing, and Trowa couldn't help but try to take in as much of it as he could.

Breakfast was a rather quiet affair, despite the elaborate dishes and sheer amount of food. Duo shoveled it into his mouth like a starving man, Heero clearly enjoyed it as well (although with a significantly higher degree of decorum) and Trowa alternated between taking careful bites and discreetly observing Quatre. A few times their eyes met across the long table, and Trowa was sure he saw a clever sparkle in the blonde's eyes, as if he knew exactly what the brunet was thinking. Which would have been quite a feat, as Trowa wasn't quite sure, himself.

When breakfast was over, Quatre elegantly stood, suggesting that they have a look around the grounds. Everyone was more than happy to comply, and with a smile the blonde led them around through the entrance, rounding the palace to take the side route to get to the back.

Trowa noticed that they were heading towards the stables that he had seen from his balcony window. The horses whinnied excitedly, their ears pointed up and their eyes bright as they snorted, getting excited over visitors. Quatre informed them that Wufei handled the horses, along with most of any personal affairs the princely duties might require assistance with. Wufei didn't even react to the evident praise in the small blonde's voice. He was a strange one, that was for sure.

Quatre stopped to pat his magnificent steeds, their nostrils flaring as they nuzzled their soft noses against his face and into his hair. The prince laughed, telling his guests their names and genders, and a bit about their personality. They were all of the pure Arabian bloodline, of course, and it was evident that Quatre loved them very much, and Wufei took very good care of them.

From within the stables, a tall, blonde male made an appearance, coming out around the side, and the horses went prancing over to him, nickering. He held a brush and special horse biscuits in his hands, and it was evident that the animals were about to be lavished with some special attention. Wufei stiffened, and Trowa caught the change in stature out of the corner of his eye. It was as if Wufei was trying very hard to look impressive and professional all of a sudden. Quatre also seemed to catch the minute change, and he playfully nudged Wufei, shoulder to shoulder.

"Wufei, why don't you go help Zechs care for the horses' morning grooming?" he suggested, a bit of forced innocence to his voice. With a quick, determined nod, Wufei strode purposefully to the far end of the pens, and Trowa caught the quiet 'thank you' he muttered under his breath. Quatre laughed as the Asian boy joined the taller man, and he shook his head amusedly.

"Wufei shares the caretaking duties of the horses with Zechs." He explained. "I think they have a bit of a friendly competitiveness to it, and Wufei's always trying to prove himself."

"Looks like there might be a little more to it than that…" Duo grinned, watching as Zechs greeted Wufei with a teasing nudge as he handed the boy a horse brush, and Wufei looked the slightest bit self-conscious at the touch. Trowa was a bit shocked that Duo would so openly suggest such a thing to the prince himself about one of his friends and business associates, but the Arabian male didn't look the least bit perturbed.

"Mmm." Quatre agreed in a content hum. "I've always thought so too. Anyways, let's keep going, shall we?"

As Quatre began explaining all of the many imported fruit trees he possessed, Trowa was lost in thought, not really hearing the blonde's words, simply listening to the pleasant tenor of his voice. Quatre seemed so happy with his things, and the life he led, and who could blame him? But he wasn't selfish, wasn't arrogant, wasn't any of the things Trowa had been expecting. He was kind and generous and beautiful. The previous nonchalance about such a potentially confrontational subject just showed how comfortable he was with people, no matter who they were or where they were from, or where their preferences lay. It was a noble trait, to be so accepting, and certainly not one Trowa would have expected from a ruler of a country. Or son of a ruler, in any case.

Trowa knew he was staring, but he just couldn't help it, there was so much to take in. The prince was every bit as captivating as his palace, and Trowa couldn't get enough. A strange fascination had grabbed hold of him, twisting strangely in his gut every time he though too long on what it could mean, and –

"Trowa?"

Snapping out of it, the tall brunet returned his attention to the smiling Quatre's words, realizing that he had been caught spacing out. Repressing a flush of embarrassment, he tried to remember what the topic of discussion had been, but failed miserably.

"Uh… yes? Sorry, I didn't catch what you said."

Quatre smiled. "I said I sent your friends off to go explore on their own, it's time to show you what you came here for."

Pure bafflement muddled Trowa's mind for a lengthy moment as he tried to remember what it was he had come for… oh! Oh, of course! The Oryx.

"Right this way…" Quatre commanded, a sway in his step as he led Trowa further into the trees, which soon gave way to an open, penned in field – the very same one Trowa had spotted from his window that morning.

But now Trowa was able too see what the pen contained. Beautiful, mysterious creatures, and suddenly the brunet understood why Catherine had said that they were probably the animals that started the legend of the unicorn. Silvery white beasts with dark legs leading down to pointed hooves, captivating markings around the eyes, flicking tufted tails… and the _horns_. Trowa had never seen anything so impressive before in his whole young life. Twisted, perfectly straight horns shot out of the tops of their heads, jutting up proudly, a few metres each in length. His awe must have showed on his face, because he felt a soft nudge to his side, and looked down to see Quatre's smiling face.

"You like them."

It wasn't a question, merely an observation of the obvious. Trowa had an eye for the fascinating, the unique, the rare, and this… this went above and beyond any standards he had set for what it would be like to see one of these fantastic beats in person.

"I… they're wonderful." He breathed. "Thank you so much for offering me... er, _us_, the circus, one of them. I assure you, it –"

"I know, Trowa." Quatre cut in, effectively silencing the older boy, the warm use of Trowa's name glossing over what could have been interpreted as a rude interruption. "You'll take good care of what I give you. I know of your circus, and I've heard wonderful things about it. But… I must admit…" here the prince trailed off, eyes downcast. "I am going to be quite sad to lose one of them, even if it is to your fine collection of wonders. I… I'd like for you and your friends to stay a little longer, a few days maybe, so I can… so I can get to know you. It would make me feel a lot better, knowing the people who I was sending off one of my living treasures with."

Trowa was taken aback by the level of compassion that the Arabian held for his Oryxes. True, they were rare, but it seemed as though he had a deep emotional attachment to them as well, not just on a materialistic level. It made Trowa feel slight guilt at taking one from Quatre, but his heart yearned to be in possession of something so fine, something he could care for and enjoy all for his own, something almost no one else had.

"Of course." Trowa quietly replied. "I understand. We will stay as long as you request, and leave as soon as you see fit." Quatre looked back up, blue meeting green with pleased determination.

"Thank you." The smaller boy replied with a nod. They stood there for a while, not breaking the eyelock, until Quatre for once was the one to blush, averting his gaze and letting it drift out over the open field. "Would you like to interact with them?"

Trowa's eyebrows raised in interest. "How do you mean?"

With a smug little look, Quatre pulled out a whistle on a chain from around his neck, placing it to his perfect lips and blowing. It didn't make much noise to either of their ears, but the creatures on the pen quickly perked up, turning their heads and ears in the direction the sound had come from. Seeing that it was their master, some of them began meandering over, others trotted eagerly, and some others simply went back to grazing, not being bothered to move.

Trowa's breath caught in his chest as they neared, their size and majesty overwhelming. Sniffing out with their velvety noses, Quatre cooed and petted his pets, reaching into the folds of his clothing to pull out some little snack pellets, offering a handful to Trowa as well.

Their hands touched as Quatre passed along the Oryx treats, and Trowa felt a tingling spark shoot through his skin at the contact. Pulling back, he selected a few of the treats, offering them to the nearest animal, who gently took them from the brunets open palm with whiskery lips. Trowa couldn't help but smile.

"Quatre, they're amazing." He breathed, heart racing at the elated wonder he was feeling in the moment.

"I'm glad you like them." The prince returned, pleased that his prized possessions were so very appreciated.

**...o.O.o…**

After a time, Quatre suggested that they get back to everyone else, and as reluctant as Trowa was to agree, he had to admit that turning Duo loose in a prince's palace for any great length of time was probably not the best idea, even with Heero tailing after him to do damage control. So they two wandered away from the Oryx pen, and Quatre led them around the palace grounds, both in an attempt to find where Duo and Heero could have wandered off to, and an excuse to stroll through the lavish gardens.

Neither of them spoke for some time, but Trowa found it to not be an uncomfortable silence. They were content to simply peruse the grounds, Quatre occasionally pointing out a spot of interest, and Towa merely nodded or gave small affirmative sounds in response. The outside area within the palace walls was simply breathtaking. Native plants flourished under the immaculate care they no doubt received, and Quatre's presence seemed to add so much more to the surroundings, his smiling boyish face heightening Trowa's sense of awe and wonder. The blonde's slim physique shifted lithely beneath his garbs, and even with the natural beauty surrounding them, Trowa couldn't look away.

Of course it was only a matter of time before the prince became aware of the eyes so intently focused on himself. Turning to meet Trowa's gaze, he gave the lean male a curious glance.

"What is it?"

Snapping out of his focused stare, Trowa flushed, looking guilty for being caught, and struggled to come up with an excuse. "Sorry, I… was just wondering over your change in attire for today." He came up with, thinking back to the provoking image of the previous night, of Quatre dressed in silken sheer scarves and other such gauzy, sheer material.

"Ah." Quatre replied with a smile. "You're referring to the dressings you met me in last night, compared to today… yes?"

Trowa nodded eagerly, remembering the prince's curves and smooth skin that the revealing apparel allowed the notice of.

"I had a rather important meeting with one of Europe's most influential thinkers." Quatre explained. "There was potential for some very prosperous outcomes from the meeting, provided it went well. I wanted to, ah… dress to impress, as it were."

"I see." Trowa replied, and he did. Although the outfit might not have been what the prince normally spent his days wearing, it was certainly impressive and exotic, and would have been a subtle way of appealing to an outsider's favour. Visually, it made Quatre look stunning and regal, and stereotypically royal, as far as Arabian standards were set.

"You must think me manipulative and deceiving…" Quatre commented, cutting in to Trowa's thoughts. Seeing the slight frown on the boy's face, it was easy to see that he had misinterpreted Towa's thoughts, mistaking the silence for keeping such remarks to himself.

"No, not at all." Trowa quickly replied. "I find it was a rather clever move on your part. You weren't being deceptive, you were simply playing into what would be most impressive for your audience, even if it wasn't entirely natural or genuine. It was a matter of knowing what expected and what would be met with the most approval. I admit, when I first saw you, I was rather impressed as well."

_To say the least…_ Trowa's mind silently added, sounding a bit smug.

Quatre looked pleased at this response, and a corner of his lips quirked up into a knowing almost-smirk.

"Your heart is truly in your work." He commented. Trowa was a bit throw by what seemed to be a completely non-related comment, until Quatre began to elaborate, intending on making a connection between what Trowa had said, and how he himself had responded.

"You work for the circus." Quatre stated. "You do an act involving knives being thrown at you, am I right?"

"That's right…" Trowa replied, his response sounding almost like a question as well. He had no idea how Quatre had known that.

"I looked into you, and what you do." The blonde explained. "That's the only reason I was willing to offer you one of my animals – because I thoroughly researched your circus, you and your sister figure in particular. I wanted to know where something so precious to me would be going, and I was pleased by what I found."

Trowa couldn't help but feel slightly proud at Quatre's praise, and he eagerly listened for what else the prince had to say on the subject.

"I knew you cared deeply for your work, especially for the animals your business keeps. But in meeting you… it's become obvious to me that what you do is more than just a job, just an act… it's your passion, isn't it?." Trowa didn't know how to respond, but Quatre shook his head in amusement, and he realized he didn't have to. "I can tell. The way you looked at the Oryxes, and with what you said just now… You truly have the heart of someone who lives and breaths the circus life. You see fine, rare, exotic things, and you appreciate them… What others would call deception, you call creative showmanship…" Quatre's eyes were glowing with intensity as he spoke, boring deep into Trowa's very being. "You're a very interesting person, Trowa Barton."

Trowa honestly couldn't work up a reply to this. Never before had someone paid him such an honest and flattering comment before. The prince's words were not overly admiring or flowery, but the subtle hint of praise for his work was not undetected. He realized that some sort of 'thank you' might have been in order, but it seemed strange to thank someone for such a roundabout compliment. So Trowa just kept his mouth shut, and Quatre seemed to be done talking, which left them both simply staring at one another, in what should have been a very awkward silence. But for some reason, neither boy felt uncomfortable.

They were having a moment, Trowa realized, a true and honest connection. There was something in him that Quatre was drawn to, fascinated by, just as in return, he couldn't get enough of the Arabian. Gazes locked, blue into green, they stood very close, and Trowa's chest clenched in some sort of unrecognizable expectation. Quatre's lips parted and a pink tongue slipped out to wet them… Trowa found himself transfixed. Quatre delicately opened his mouth to speak, looking hesitant, when a sudden explosion of sound came barreling at them.

Blonde and brunet heads whipping around, the sight of Duo sprawled out on the ground, looking horribly guilty at the now ruined statue laying in pieces beside him. The spectacle was shocking, but not completely unexpected. Heero's jaw was set as he stood back from the wreckage, aiming a deathly glare at the clumsy braided boy. "Duo…" He growled, low and threatening.

"Uh… uh… I'm reeeeeally sorry?" Duo offered, his violet eyes big and horribly sad looking as his lower lip jutted out into a pout. It was one of his oldest, simplest tricks for getting out of trouble – the Duo Maxwell Sad Face – and it hadn't failed him yet. Sure enough, Quatre was already shaking his head with an amused smile.

"I suppose you're just lucky that was a newer piece. Easily replicable. Otherwise father would have you in as many pieces as that now ruined piece of art."

With a gulp, Duo eyed the remaining rubble of marble that was strewn in pathetic broken hunks all around him, and his relief was almost corporeal. "Yeah, that uh… that is good news… heh heh…"

Trowa shook his head, at a loss for what to make of Duo. "We can find a way to pay for it, Quatre, it's –"

"No, no, no." the blonde insisted. "It's really alright. It's no problem. Honestly, I'm glad it's broken, it was a bust of one of my least favourite aunts. Frightful woman, really…"

They all laughed at that – or in Heero's case, allowed a minimal smirk – and the accumulated tension from the accident dissipated nearly completely. Duo stood up, brushing himself off, and the next thing Trowa knew, the shorter brunet was latched on to him, dragging him off to see a peacock that had been spotted wandering around in the eastern gardens. The unibanged boy was reluctant to be parted from Quatre, but as he glanced back over his shoulder, seeing the prince waving him off with a small smile, Trowa thought that maybe getting away for a bit might be a good idea after all. He needed some time to think.

**.o.**

**-o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o-**

-blinks- Well dang. I'd fully intended for this to be a quick little oneshot, but it looks like it's getting out of hand and turning into a short chaptered fic. Maybe two or three chapters at most. I'm really enjoying writing it, though, because I got to do a lot of fun research about the Arabian Oryx, and Arabian stories and attire, and I really enjoy the setting.

So yes, usually I let myself get a few chapters ahead before posting, so that in case of an unexpected problem I have some already finished chapters to post, buuuuut… I'm kind of posting this on an impulse, because I'm excited about it and don't want to wait. X3 I'm already working on the next bit, though, so it shouldn't be _too_ long in coming.

And I swear, the reason for Trowa's little emo fit in the beginning will be explained. I wouldn't just make him all bummed out and then provide no explanation for it; that would be lame.

Seeya next chapter!

ps. I don't like begging for reviews, but they are very nice to get. If you have the time, I'd love to hear from you!


	2. More Than Strictly Business

OMG I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THE DELAY IN GETTING THIS CHAPTER UP!

Unff. I really have no excuse. I just… kept putting it off. I get really lazy about writing sometimes, and I'm so sorry to anyone who was eager about wanting keep up with this fic. BUT! Here is the second chapter. Because I would never just abandon a fic.

Never again shall I post a new story without being at least a few chapters in; that way I can make sure that if there's delays in my writing, I can still have stuff backed up to post for you fine people. Thank you so much for all of the reviews I have gotten thus far!

ONWARD WITH THE STORY!

**.o.O.o**

**To Seek An Arabian Treasure**

**Chapter 2**

**.o.O.o.**

Trowa didn't end up seeing Quatre again until later in the evening, when everyone was gathering inside as the sun's bright rays faded to a dusky orange before the darkness of night finally settled over the palace. Around midday he had managed to lose Duo and Heero, waiting for the opportunity of the louder of the two to go bounding off after something, allowing him to double back while Heero was rushing after the human wreaking ball of destruction. The stoic boy caught him in the act of trying to sneak off (Heero always _had_ been too perceptive for his own good… and everyone else's as well), and for a moment Trowa froze, realizing he had been found out in his attempt to get away from them, but with no more than a nod, Heero had dismissed him and continued after Duo, to make sure he didn't break anything more. Thankful for the reprieve, Trowa wandered off.

At first, he hadn't known where to head. He was far from knowing his way around the palace, but the one place he was sure he would be able to get to was also the one place he wanted to revisit the most. Trying to backtrack as accurately as he could, Trowa was impressed with himself when he found himself back at the Oryx pen, the animals grazing peacefully in their enclosure.

Settling on the fence, Trowa sat back to watch the fantastic beasts. They didn't do much more than chew at the grass and weeds that grew in patches inside the fence, or occasionally clack horns in a minor, short lived scuffle… but they were captivating to watch. Trowa slowly started to pick out individuals by size or slight variations in marking or horn length, and he began the unconscious task of selecting which ones he favoured. The females were nice and gentle and delicate, but it was the males Trowa focused on the most. They were strong and powerful and absolutely striking in every aspect of their appearance. For a captive audience, surely it would be a male that would create the greatest reaction of awe.

Frowning, Trowa slowly turned, feeling eyes upon his back, but when he looked behind himself and on either side, there was no one to be seen. Shrugging it off, he returned his attention to the pen. A little later, there was a hint of movement from one of the bushes in the area around him, but a discreet scanning of the area revealed nothing. Trowa would have been more worried, but the palace walls were heavily guarded, and Quatre's grounds had already revealed themselves to be quite full of various forms of animal life, so he let it slide.

Towards sunset, Trowa tore his attention away from the Oryx's and decided it would probably be best to go back inside. Once the sun went down in the desert, it became very dark and very cold very fast. Being outside suddenly became a risky endeavour, and as Trowa was unaccustomed to the new climate, he decided it would be a good idea to play it better safe than sorry, and he headed inside.

Guards greeted him at the door, giving him a curt nod; clearing him and allowing him safe passage into the palace through the grand entrance. Trowa, to be honest, was rather intimidated by the tough looking men who served to upkeep the palace's security, but it made sense that Quatre would be in need of them.

Finding his way into the large dining room, Trowa discovered that it was quite dark and empty. Following his ears, which were picking sounds of laughter and discussion from down the hall, Trowa came upon Duo, Heero, Wufei, and Quatre, who were all gathered around in a large, elegant, sitting room filled with couches and lounges and comfy looking cushioned chairs. Soft oil lamplight and flickering candles lit the room, illuminating faces in captivating glows and shadows, and Quatre seemed to be in the middle of animatedly talking. Not wanting to disturb anything, Trowa slipped inside unnoticed and set himself down on the nearest recliner, drawing his legs up with an arm propped up on an armrest.

"…_the excuse he gave for his appearance was that he had come to consult the chief of the dervishes on a private matter of great importance._ _'What I have to say must not be overheard.' _" Quatre had lowered his voice to a whisper for dramatic effect, and his very expression was caught in the moment as he assumed the part of the character in whatever narration it might have been that he was telling. "… _'I beg of you, that your dervishes retire into their cells, as night is approaching, and meet me in the court.' _"

Quatre looked up after this snippet of speech, casting a quick, inconspicuous glance to Trowa. No one else had yet noticed the unibanged boy's arrival, all too caught up in Quatre's tale. Duo was leaning forward in his seat, nearly falling out of it, and it was perhaps only due to Heero's secure grip on the back of his shirt that he _wasn't_ face-flat on the ground already. Heero's attempts at keeping Duo in his seat appeared to be subconscious, however, as his full attention was also with Quatre's story. Wufei didn't look quite as captivated with the story as the other two – no doubt he had heard it before – but his back was to Trowa so he also hadn't noticed the brunet's arrival. Quatre's casual pause in speech and sweep of eyes only lasted a second, not long enough to arouse suspicion, and he was soon picking up where he left off.

"…_the dervish did as he was asked without delay, and directly they were alone together the envious man began to tell a long story, edging, as they walked to and fro, always nearer to the well_…"

The story twisted with Quatre painting elaborate pictures with his words – of faeries and genies and magic and princesses and the constant struggle of two men, one evil, one good. But Trowa listened not so much to the story, as to the timbre of Quatre's voice as he wove his tale, the way the yellow light illuminated his soft features as he spoke and moved with his words. There was no denying it – the boy captivated him, and Trowa simply couldn't look away. It was as if he just couldn't get enough of this strange foreign prince. It nagged at him that he thought as much, so he tried to push it away from his mind, but then Quatre would slyly catch his eye, or shift just so in the light, and Trowa was lost yet again in the mysterious fascination.

As time wore on – for the story was long – Duo started to slouch in his seat and his eyelids drooped, signaling that it wouldn't be long before he was lost to the world in whatever dreams went through that braided head of his. Heero tugged him back, allowing the younger brunet to slump against his side. Trowa raised an eyebrow at the fact that Heero allowed the contact, but reasoned that there was a lot he didn't fully comprehend about the strange yet close friendship between the two. As Duo sunk further and further into unconsciousness, Quatre trailed off, smiling gently.

"I suppose it is getting rather late." He commented, observing Duo's open-mouthed sleeping habits. "Should we finish the story tomorrow?"

Heero nodded. "I'm sure he wasn't trying to be rude." The stoic boy offered by way of apology. "When he starts to go down he crashes out very fast. It has been a very full day for him." The corners of Quatre's blue eyes crinkled as he smiled fondly and understandingly.

"Of course. All that running around. Would you like Wufei to help you get him back to his room?"

"That won't be necessary." Heero assured him. "I'll just take him back to my room. He would probably find his way in there again some time in the night anyways."

Not waiting for a reply, Heero pulled Duo up, supporting the braided boy's weight with his shoulders and one hand around his slender waist, and the mismatched pair headed to their room, Heero giving Trowa an unreadable look on his way out. Wufei was quick to excuse himself as well, voicing a vague comment about making sure the horses were shut in, leaving Trowa alone in the cozy room with the prince.

"How did you like the story?" Quatre asked, remaining seated. Trowa moved further into the room, not wanting to appear rude or distant, and sat across from the blonde.

"I didn't catch all of it." The brunet tentatively began. "But… from what I heard, it was very interesting. Did you make it up?"

Quatre laughed, and Trowa's very skin tingles at the sound. "Goodness, no!" he replied. "It's one of the tales from Arabian Nights. They're a collection of stories that were supposedly told by the character, Scheherezade, over 1001 nights, so that she could gain the mercy of her captor, the Sultan."

"So she told him stories to buy herself more time to live?" Trowa inferred.

"That was the idea." Quatre replied, leaning back in his plush armchair. "Stalling for time, trying to gain the favour of her captor… a rather creative idea for preventing the immediacy of death, I should think."

"But did it work?"

Quatre smirked. "I guess you'll just have to hear the rest of the story yourself and find out." Trowa looked a little disappointed with this answer, brows furrowing in frustration at denial of a straight answer, and Quatre laughed. "Maybe sometime I'll be able to tell you the rest myself." He suggested with a twinkle in his eyes. "But not tonight. It's getting late, and we should probably follow the example of your friends and get to bed. I don't think I would be able to carry you all the way up to your quarters. That's a lot of stairs."

Trowa fought a blush down at the thought of Quatre with his arms around him, carrying him off to bed, and replied with a simple "Yes, good idea."

The two boys made their way up to the prince's quarters, Trowa stopping at his door and bidding a goodnight to the prince. Instead of continuing to his own room as Trowa would have assumed the blonde would do, Quatre paused at Trowa's door as well, gazing at him intently, as if trying to work out some deep, complex revelation just by looking at him. The brunet fidgeted under the intense scrutiny, not sure what to make of it. Quatre stepped closer then, mere inches separating them as the shorter boy tilted his face up to attempt to make up for their difference in height, and Trowa's breath hitched in surprise. What in all of heaven and hell was the young prince playing at?

"Do you think she lives, or dies?" Quatre suddenly asked, completely serious, and for a moment Trowa didn't have the slightest idea what the boy was talking about. He thought back to what their last conversation had revolved around, and remembered his query as to how Quatre's story ended.

"I… I should hope that she lives." Trowa quickly answered. He hadn't thought much on it, but it was his first impulse to respond in a positive outlook for her situation. Quatre blinked, processing the opinion, before stepping away and nodding.

"Sleep well, Trowa."

Watching the blonde carry on down the hall, turning a corner and disappearing out of sight, Trowa was rooted to the spot, trying to figure out what had just transpired. Why had Quatre suddenly turned so serious about something as trivial as Trowa's opinion on a character in a story? Shaking his head and turning to let himself into his room, Trowa changed for sleep, slipping under satin sheets and blowing out the bedside candle.

But as he lay in the dark, willing sleep to come, all he could think about was the fate of a young girl in a story, and intense blue eyes desperately searching his own for the answer.

**...o.O.o…**

Upon waking the next morning, before even opening his eyes, Trowa intuitively sensed that he was not alone in the room. Someone was watching him. Carefully turning over, Trowa prepared to face whatever intruder had made their way into his room, and started in shock when a brightly coloured bird let out a sharp trill of greeting, perched not a foot away from his face on the nightstand.

Sitting up, Trowa frowned, looking the bird over and trying to figure out how it had gotten into his room. Looking toward the balcony and seeing the light, airy curtains flowing slightly, he surmised that the balcony doors had been left open, thus giving the creature the perfect opportunity to flitter in. Letting out a few soft chirps, the bird hopped forward, it's long, colourful tail feathers bouncing in time with the curled, decorative plumes that adorned the little creature's head.

"What do you want?" Trowa asked as it hopped onto his leg, bobbing its head up and down excitedly. Judging that it was a pet, given the affectionate gestures and lack of fear at interacting with humans, Trowa reached out a finger towards it, stroking down the bird's soft chest. Chirruping excitedly, the bird hopped some more, back and forth, an act that captured Trowa's interest. In observing the little intruder, Trowa noticed something odd wrapped around the bird's leg and he reached a hand out, not sure how to go about taking a closer look without simply grabbing the creature to still its jumpy movements.

Without even having to restrain the colourful bird, it hopped right up onto one of his fingers, holding still and allowing him to quite easily take a closer look at the adornment on its leg. Upon inspection, it turned out to be a small slip of wrapped paper, and letting his curiosity get the better of him, Trowa removed it, carefully unraveling it to find out what secrets it contained.

The bright little creature fluttered up onto the brunet's shoulders as he read the note, twittering happily. Trowa barely even noticed, however, as he was overcome with surprise to discover that the message on the slip of paper was directed to none other than himself.

_Trowa – _

_If you can manage it, around to my room whenever you wake up. I'd love to talk to you over a light brunch. _

_Quatre _

Looking at the clock, Trowa realized that he had overslept – it was already nearing ten. All of his sitting up and thinking the previous night must have indebted him to a little extra sleeping in the morning, and it had been kind of Quatre not to send anyone up to wake him. Come to think of it, the prince also must have had some sort of role in keeping Heero and Duo away from his room, because the stoic brunet looked down upon laziness and idleness, and the braided teen simply liked to be annoying at God forsakenly early hours in the morning.

Slipping out of bed, Trowa dragged himself to the shower, quickly refreshing himself and slipping into some clothes that had been laid out for him on the counter. When he came back into the main room, he found that the delivery bird was still there, twittering happily whilst perched on a lamp, and he beckoned to it before stepping out the door.

"Come on, you. We're going to visit Quatre."

The little bird flew to his shoulder, perching comfortably as Trowa stepped out the door, turning down the hall to continue to Quatre's personal quarters.

If he was to be honest with himself, Trowa had to admit that he was a little nervous. Not only did it seem to be some sort of breach in etiquette to enter the royal prince's chambers, but the note had seemed rather… vague? It had certainly seemed innocent enough at face value, but the phrase 'I'd love to talk to you' sounded awfully close to 'we need to talk', and Trowa had come to find that such a statement was almost _never_ followed by pleasant business. But Quatre had never been anything but polite and welcoming and friendly to them so far, so Trowa forced himself to push aside such negative thoughts about what the nature of the meeting might be. Surely it wouldn't be anything bad.

But – while he was being honest with himself – Trowa also had to admit that a one-on-one interaction with Quatre in his own personal enclosed space… it… well… it made his stomach turn flips. Surely the prince was attractive, but he was a prince, and he was from a completely different life from Trowa, and most importantly he was a _boy_. Trowa admitted that his excuses sounded weak, even in his own mind, but he was desperately attempting to keep himself from getting in over his head.

Reaching the door at the end of the twisting hallway, and discovering it to be very high and elaborate, but also very closed, Trowa hesitated before knocking.

The deep, resounding knock on the polished wood echoed through the otherwise deserted hallways, and Trowa shifted in unease. Even though it was just Quatre's room on the other side of the door, the palace was a large and intimidating place, and being alone in any part of it only served to increase the sheer magnitude and lavishness of the surroundings. Trowa looked upwards to the high ceiling, following designs with his eyes as they ran down the walls and pillars. It seemed as though not a single attention to detail was spared in the palace's creation.

"Trowa?"

Snapping back around to face the door, which was now pulled open slightly so that Quatre's blonde head could peek out, Trowa let a slight smile grace his features as he gave a nod of acknowledgement to the prince. Returning the smile, Quatre pulled the door further open, stepping aside and beckoning Trowa into his chambers. The brunet complied to the unspoken invitation, tentatively stepping inside.

It came as no surprise that Quatre's room was just as lavish as the rest of the palace. Most of his decorating seemed to be done with plush, silken pillows, flowing drapes, which created a soft, inviting atmosphere. Dangling, sparkling trinkets were hung from the walls and the ceiling, wrapping and twisting like vines and making Trowa feel like he had stepped into some sort of very curious, twinkling forest. With a twitter, the small bird on his shoulder took flight, fluttering across the room to alight on a delicate bird perch. Trowa watched the little creature preen it's feathers and dip it's beak into a crystal dish of coloured water, almost losing himself in this magical feeling environment, until Quatre spoke up.

"I see my message arrived safely. Quite the reliable little messenger, that one."

Trowa turned his attention back to the prince, discovering the young ruler to be clothed in light, silky material that seemed to match his room's decoration scheme. His inviting features were bright and welcoming, and Trowa found himself becoming amazed with how quickly he was becoming comfortable in what he had thought would be such a foreboding environment. After all, weren't a prince's personal chambers supposed to be… revered? Sacred? Not for mere travelers to enjoy and be invited into.

"I assume you're referring to your little bird?" A nod from Quatre, and Trowa smiled. "Yes, he was quite an interesting creature for such a purpose."

"She, actually." Quatre corrected, although he didn't seem bothered by the mistake of gender. "Her name is Alnair – she serves as my personal messenger for inner-palace messages."

"How clever." Trowa commented, and Quatre's smile warmed further at the compliment.

"I certainly thought so. Would you like to sit down?"

Quatre was gesturing to a small table in the centre of the room, set for tea for two. It was short and surrounded by throw pillows, leading Trowa to assume they would kneel around it, and as they did in fact do just that, he noticed that the tea set was of a traditional English style and pattern. Interesting. It seemed as though Quatre was a well rounded individual of refined culture not limited to just his own.

"So Trowa." Quatre began, pouring the unibanged boy a cup of some exotic smelling red tea. "How have you been enjoying yourself?"

"Very much, thank you." Trowa replied. "The palace is exquisite, and you are a wonderful host. It's quite gracious of you to offer us excess time spent here."

"It's nothing, I assure you." Quatre replied with a 'pish-posh' wave of his hand. "I enjoy your company, and you've traveled a long way, you deserve accomodations and time to enjoy your stay. Sugar?"

Trowa accepted the prooffered sweetener, along with a tea bisquit, and the two males fell into a comfortable relaxed conversation. Quatre wanted to know all about what Trowa thought of the palace, and the brunet wasmore than willing to engage in the idle banter. Quatre was an active listener, and he seemed genuinely pleased to hear that Trowa was enjoying himself. In truth, Trowa couldn't help but gush over Quatre's palace and all of his lovely things – there was something about the boy that seemed notable, praiseworthy… endearing. Even though he was there on business, in his mind it had somehow turned into something else entirely, and he wanted nothing more than to please the blonde, to make him feel as wonderful as he himself made Trowa feel. It wasn't as though Trowa had been there long enough to form a genuine bond with the other male, but he still felt like there was some sort of glittering connection between them, very faint, but holding so much promise…

"So Trowa… about my Oryxes…"

_Oh… so this was a business meeting. _Trowa found his hopes somewhat dashed at the realization, although he couldn't fathom why. That _was_ the reason for this trip, was it not? And yet he couldn't help but to have hoped that maybe this brunch could have been something else… almost like a casual date between friends? Trowa looked up to see Quatre contentedly sitting on his pillow across the small table, calm and reserved as always.

All of a sudden his and Quatre's different social status's hit Trowa like a slap to the face. Quatre was the prince of Arabia, and what was he? A circus entertainer, preforming cheap tricks for the amusement of the public. There was no possible way that he and the blonde could ever be friends, or even – here Trowa mentally snorted in disgusted amusement at himself for the very thought – anything more.

"Trowa?"

Forcing himself to meet Quatre's searching blue gaze, the brunet tried to keep the disapointment out of his expression. Forcing a calm, collected attempt at casual amiability, Trowa nodded, taking a hold of his teacup and shakily lifting it to his lips.

"Yes, sorry, just got a little lost in thought for a second there…"

After the impromptu brunch/_business_ meeting, Trowa and Quatre headed down to the grounds. Heero and Duo were, predictably, nowhere to be found; most likely wreaking havoc in a different sector of the palace. But no matter, the blonde and tall brunet were once again dealing in _business_, and it wouldn't do to have either of them there anyways.

Following after the smaller of the two, Trowa couldn't help but keep his gazed fixed on Quatre's slim back the entire time they wove through the gardens, making their way to the Oryx pens. It was as though the moment he had realized that Quatre was beyond his grasp, unattainable, it only made him all the more appealing; it only made Trowa long for him more than he had realized that he had before. It was frustrating, and Trowa was infuriated at himself for it, for setting himself up for disappointment. But for the life of him he couldn't stop the thoughts and feelings. Before, he had just looked at Quatre as a fascinating and exotic individual; aesthetically pleasing. Or at least that was how he _thought_ he had looked at it. Looking back, Trowa now realized he was _enamoured_ with the blonde, and not in a strictly aesthetic way. He wanted to get to know Quatre, to be around him, to _please_ him. Trowa honestly couldn't tell why such a rush of intensity towards the prince had gushed forth at the realization that it could never happen, but he blamed it on the age old scenario of wanting what you could never have.

"Here we are!" Quatre chipperly announced, gesturing to the pen. At the sound of his voice, Trowa was forced to drag his gaze upwards and stare into the boy's face, so as to avoid being rude, and not be caught staring anywhere that was deemed less than socially acceptable. Trowa wasn't the only one to respond to Quatre's voice – a few of the animals raised their heads as well, some of them even meandering over in the general direction of the prince. They weren't pets in the traditional 'warm and cuddly' fashion, but they did seem to have an attachment to the kind prince. Trowa was suddenly irrationally jealous of them, for getting to stay in the palace grounds with Quatre for the remainder of their lives, while he would have to return to the circus. It was his home, but he couldn't help but feel like the little part of him that had gotten so attached to what he had found in Arabia would never come back with him.

"So Trowa." The blonde was starting, mischievous smile on his young features. "Have you decided which one you would like?"

The unibanged male was taken aback at this, and couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice or expression. "I get to choose?"

"Of course!" Quatre returned with a laugh. "You came here seeking to bring back a fine creature, it's only right that you should get what you came for!"

The words brought a sharp pang of perspective to the taller male, as they struck rather close to home with his current predicament of realizing how his initial reason for being where he was had warped into something else entirely. For a flash, Trowa envisioned asking Quatre to come back in place of one of the beasts, but it was short lived, and he brushed the thought aside.

"I…" he glanced out into the pen, and to the few creatures that had come over to the fence, and then back to Quatre. As much as he thought about it, he couldn't choose. Everything was so wonderful and exquisite, how could he possibly single out one, and rule out all the rest? "I would like you to choose." He decided, and then thought back to his observations from the other day. "And I would like a male."

Quatre's expression turned thoughtful upon hearing this, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking of the request, but there was a curious spark in his eyes. "Alright." He acquiesced, looking out over his prized pets. It took him more than five minutes, and he seemed to be lost deep in his thoughts for that period of time, but he finally turned back to Trowa with a decisive expression.

"You shall have Malik."

To Trowa, this meant nothing. But he could tell that this was apparently something noteworthy, and he was sure Quatre would elaborate on the matter. And, of course, he did.

"Malik is a young male." Quatre began, gesturing to one of the animals not too far from them. Trowa looked it over, and saw that although the creature was one of the smaller ones, that could be attributed to the age, and there was certainly much potential for growth and further beauty. "He was born here, in the palace. I have personally hand-reared him, and seen to it that he has received only the finest of care. His temperament is highly favourable, and his age suits him for allowances for lifestyle adjustments, such as what he will be facing upon leaving with you. He is old enough to be a strongly developed individual, but young enough to handle environment or lifestyle changes in a manner that allows for easy transition."

Trowa was honestly impressed with the thought Quatre had put behind his choice. He had assumed the prince would simply choose whichever animal it pained him least to part with, or whichever had the least favourable breeding or aesthetics. But instead it appeared as though the blonde had gone out of his way to purposefully select the finest animal for what Trowa needed, and the brunet was surprised by the lavishly generous offer.

"Thank you." He expressed with a nod of acknowledgement. "Malik sounds like he will be just what I came for."

**...o.O.o…**

"Look, Heero, I'm telling you man! It's totally fine!"

The braided boy received a stern glare. "And I am telling _you_ Duo, that it is absolutely _not_ fine."

Duo groaned and rolled his eyes. "Oh come _oooooon_, Heero! Quatre said we had free roam of the palace! I want to go exploring, and I want to go exploring _there_."

"Absolutely not." Heero firmly refused. "The prince allowed us free rein of the palace grounds on the assumption that we knew how to use good judgment, and that we would have respect for what was not ours. Breaking into an ancient tomb is far from respectful, and certainly not using proper judgment."

"Come oooooooon." Duo whined, going so far as to rest a hand upon a jutting hip, letting his arm stick out at an annoyed angle. "I promise I'm not going to break anything or destroy ancient artifacts or desecrate the hallowed sanctity of the grave or anything!"

"Tssh." Heero let out in a disbelieving huff.

"I _won't_!" Duo insisted, stomping a foot. "I just want to go look around!"

Ever since earlier that morning, when Wufei had let it slip that there was a tomb on the outskirts of the palace grounds, Duo had been adamant about getting into them and poking around. If it had been anyone else, such an idea might not have been a problem. But since it was Duo… surely no good could come from such a venture. There was just too much that could go wrong.

"Duo, I know you want to go, but I don't think –"

"But no one ever said I couldn't!" Duo argued, and it was true enough. When Wufei had mentioned the tomb, Heero had seen the mischievously intrigued glint that had sparkled in Duo's violet eyes, but the braided boy had wisely refrained from voicing his interest, being insightful enough to know that Wufei (who, though he hadn't known Duo for long, had a pretty good grasp on the chaos that surrounded the American) would most likely forbid him from going. So Duo had kept his mouth shut, but Heero had known that he hadn't heard the end of it. Not that he had even heard _any_ of it yet at that point, but he knew what was coming. Whining and pleading and begging.

But surprisingly enough, none of that had transpired. At least not at first. Rather, Duo had dragged Heero around the grounds all day, seemingly aimlessly, but in retrospect the hyperactive antics had merely been an excuse to map out the grounds and find out where the tomb was. Now that they were there, the intent had become obvious. Heero steadfastly put his foot down on the matter, and _that_ was when the whining and pleading and begging had started up.

"Look, Heero, what if you like… what if you're watching my back the whole time? There's no _way_ I can screw up with Supreme Anal Retentive Agent Yuy on my case!"

Heero mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "I beg to differ." It wasn't that he doubted his own skills, it was that he knew better than to doubt _Dou's_ as well.

"Pleeeeeeaaaase, Heero?" Duo begged, breaking out the pleading puppy eyes. "Please please please please pleeeee –"

"Alright!" Heero snapped, already berating himself for giving in. No good could come of this. "But you will do exactly as I say, if I decide it's time to leave, we _leave_, and you will touch absolutely _nothing_."

"HEERO YOU'RE THE BEST!" Duo cried, launching himself at the stoic brunet, who's eyes widened in uncharacteristic surprise as he defensively raised his arms to deflect the mass of enthusiastic boy that was being flung at him. It was no use, though, because Duo pushed through to envelop Heero in a strong embrace, wiggling happily. "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Now let's go!"

The next thing Heero knew, his wrist was being taken in Duo's steady grip, and he was being dragged into a foreboding looking building. He had hoped that it would be locked so that he could have an excuse to not let Duo in, but fate was not smiling upon him that day, and the hinged door creaked open. Duo glanced back at him with an earsplitting grin, thrilled at the little adventure they were embarking on.

Inside, the tomb was dark and musty. There was no way of telling who was buried within its walls, because all of the engravements were done in a script that was foreign to both Heero and Duo. Some sort of ancient traditional Arabic, no doubt. But other than shadows of engravings and the angular walls of the tomb and its contained encasements, there wasn't much to see. Torches flickered weakly in their wall posts, and Duo tugged his unwilling companion even deeper into the crypt.

"Duo, don't go in such a rush, you're going to knock something over." Heero chided.

"Oh man, Heero, isn't it cool?!" Duo gleefully asked, not registering Heero's scolding.

"It's just a tomb." Heero replied, edging Duo away from a precariously balanced altar of some sort. It was getting even darker the farther away they got from the door, and Heero had to keep even closer to the energetic braided boy to prevent accidental destruction.

"Yeah, but it's so old and dark and creeeeeppy!" Duo replied as he turned around, grinning. He lifted his hands up to frame his face and did some spooky fingers for further emphasis. Heero really didn't find all of the flailing hand movement to be conducive to a not-damaging-ancient-treasures-in-the-tomb experience, so he pushed the other boy's hands back down.

"Duo, cut it out. There's nothing creepy about –"

_SLAM!_

Without warning, the two boys were suddenly plunged into darkness as the crypt door swung shut, blocking out all outside light. The resulting gush of wind from its inward swing served to extinguish the torches on the walls as well, leaving nothing but pure, unadulterated blackness.

"Okay, so that was _definitely_ not my fault."

Heero's responding eyeroll to the comment went unappreciated in the all encompassing darkness, but his sigh of exasperation did not.

"Hey, don't you huff at me!" came Duo's voice out of the obscurity, and Heero could tell without visual confirmation that the boy's hands were on his hips in indignation as he assumed that Heero would try to pin the situation back on him. "I didn't do anything!"

"I know that." Heero told him.

"But you were still going to blame me!"

"Duo, stop assuming things."

"Then stop blaming me for thing that aren't my fault!"

"Duo, I never –"

"WHY DO THINGS ALWAYS GO WRONG WHEN I'M AROUND?! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!"

"_Duo_!"

Heero's sharp tone shut up the younger male's self-depreciating tirade, and he rubbed his temples to alleviate a forming headache.

"No one said it was your fault." Heero continued in a less harsh tone. "The door was probably just not propped open correctly. As long as we're careful, it won't be a problem to get back to it without breaking anyth –"

_Crash._

"… ing."

"…"

"Duo…"

"…Okay, Heero, I know you're not going to believe it, but that _really_ wasn't me either, I swear! I think there might be something else in he– RAAGH!"

With an unmanly gurgled whimper that would later be denied, Duo's body launched in the general direction of where Heero had last been seen, and although the aim was close, it was at a slight angle and unexpected by the darker haired male. "Duo!" Heero growled in irritation as the impact of their colliding bodies sent them both crashing to the floor, Duo clambering on top of Heero. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Heero, there's something else in here!" Duo wailed. "It brushed against my leg!"

Heero sighed, letting his head drop back against the cold stone floor as Duo continued to keep him in an iron gripped embrace of fear. The kid could face amazing odds when put to the test, but other times when trivial little things like this happened (and they _always_ seemed to happen when Heero was around to suffer through them) Duo could turn into a downright scaredy cat. The fact that the two had shared a room for the past few days because Duo's room was "too big and dark at night" was proof enough of that.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Heero commented, but Duo only curled in closer, refusing to let go. After a few minutes the death grip loosened minimally, giving Heero some room to breath, and he couldn't notice how close Duo's body was pressed to his. It made him a little uncomfortable, but he found himself unable to pinpoint exactly why, and he made no move to get out of it. Duo had always been overly physical, but Heero couldn't remember a time when they had been so bodily close before, especially not for such an extended period of time. It was a little awkward.

"Duo." Heero began, shifting a little. "You're still on me."

"I know that." Duo replied, voice slightly muffled in Heero's neck, but not sounding as though there was a hint of fear to it any longer.

"You could get off of me." Heero pointed out.

"I know." Duo assured him, but instead of complying he actually scooched in closer, almost as if he were _cuddling_.

"What are you doing?"

"I dunno." Came the muffled response, contrasting the braided boy's previous replies. "You're comfortable."

To Heero, this really didn't seem to be the time for snuggling. In fact, he wasn't sure there was _ever_ a time for he and Duo to be snuggling, but if there were to be, it certainly wouldn't be on the cold, dank floor of a tomb, surrounded by complete darkness and ancient burials. But Heero refused to show that he was uncomfortable with the situation, physically or mentally, so he stayed still and let Duo shift closer, becoming increasingly aware of the closeness of their proximity as Duo's leg slipped between his own.

Um. Was this still about clinging in fear of the dark and the scary unknown creatures, or had it turned into something else entirely?

Before he could further delve into that thought, something brushed up against his hand that was still splayed out to the side where it had ended up after his failed attempt at preventing their fall. Stiffening imperceptibly, Heero realized that Duo had been right about them not being alone after all, and his mind raced at trying to figure out what could possibly be touching him.

"Mreow."

The distinctive chirrup startled Duo, and Heero felt him tense up atop of him, but the sound, combined with a brush of whiskers, confirmed Heero's suspicious that whatever else had been in the room with them, it probably wasn't a threat.

"Heero… did something just meow?"

"There's a cat in here." Heero informed him as the creature sniffed his hand briefly before padding off. It made sense, actually. Cats were highly regarded in the culture, and they made themselves helpful household contributors by keeping control of the rat and mouse populations. A tomb would be a perfect place for a cat to slink around, stalking rodents.

"Oh." Duo said, and Heero couldn't help but notice that the boy _still_ hadn't made a move to get up. He was about to make a suggestion about doing so when Duo shifted again, covering Heero's body with his own.

"Duo…" the brunet began, but he found himself unable to continue when a pair of soft lips tentatively pressed against his neck. His mind reeling in million different directions at once over the unexpected action, a few things suddenly clicked into place. Why Duo always got so obnoxious and clingy around him. Why Duo always nagged at him and followed him around. Why Duo had taken to doing outlandish things to get his attention. And maybe he had even figured out why he put up with all of this, even though if it had been anyone else, he never would have permitted it.

"Duo…" he began again, sudden insight striking him. "You're not really afraid of the dark, are you?" Heero could feel Duo's lips pull into a grin against his neck, and a soft chuckle escaped the braided boy.

"Of course I'm not."

**...o.O.o…**

XD Oh Duo, you tricky little beast, you.

So yes, sorry for anyone who didn't approve of the fact that the story got sidetracked into a bit of Heero/Duo, but just so you know, it was actually what saved this fic from a long slough of writers block. I had lost my momentum I started out with for writing this fic somewhere around the point at which Trowa shows up at Quatre's room, and it was slooooooow going until my friend helped me come up with that little scenario. It fit in well, I thought, and got me re-motivated for writing about the G-boys.

NEXT CHAPTER WE ARE BACK TO TROWA AND QUATRE! It'll probably be the final chapter, and I already have it mostly plotted out. I promise I'll try to be quicker about updating this time! –shot–

Thank you in advance to anyone who reviews!


	3. Happily Ever After

Whoops, kinda took me a while to get this chapter out, didn't it? Heh heh heh, sorry… I kind of lost my steam for writing for a little bit, plus the fact that I was disappointed that not a lot of people really seemed all that interested in this fic, but…

Then I remembered that I don't write to get popular or have millions of reviews, I write because it's what I love to do, and there were in fact a bunch of nice people who contributed absolutely _wonderful_ reviews, so to anyone who read/reviewed this story, this is for you! I wrote nonstop for the past two days to get this out for you, and although I'm sure there's bound to be some typos and mistakes, I hope you like it! It's the last chapter, and everything gets wrapped up pretty nicely I think.

So thank you so much to anyone who enjoyed this story! Thanks for reading!

**.o.O.o**

**To Seek An Arabian Treasure**

**Chapter 3**

**.o.O.o.**

After a careful inspection of the oryx called Malik (at Quatre's insistence. Trowa had never been one to look a gift horse… or rather, _oryx_ in the mouth.) the two young males headed back to the palace. Quatre led Trowa around on a grand tour, personally showing him all of the places that had yet to be seen by any of the visitors. Although awed and appreciative, Trowa found his heart heavy at following Quatre through all of the beautiful places. The blonde was so beautiful and perfect, just like the setting. Trowa had no place in such an environment. The way the prince moved through the various chambers and rooms and corridors… it was as casual as if Trowa had been walking through the circus's animal cages. Two worlds, completely separate.

Trowa decided that he ought to be leaving soon. Very soon. He had gotten what he had come for with Quatre bestowing Malik into his ownership, and already the brunet could feel himself getting attached to this place, and everything it held. Especially Quatre. He wasn't used to staying in any one place for very long, and he found the pangs of longing that he had to stay in Arabia with Quatre to be more than a little troubling. It certainly wouldn't do to get overly fond of a place that he could never come back to, a place that he would never belong to or have a place in, even if he tried.

And tried he had. All day long Trowa had been attempting to endear himself to the blonde. To try and gauge a reaction to close proximity, or teasingly phrased hints at attraction. And every time Quatre would smile and let a pretty blush steal over his cheeks as he delicately avoided returning the gestures and words. It was disheartening, and furthered Trowa's decision to get out of Arabia as soon as he could. No doubt Duo would be sad to loose his elaborate playground, but…

Wait a second…

"Quatre?" Trowa suddenly spoke up, looking to his side. The two boys were sitting in an open, indoor courtyard. Glass panels served as the ceiling to encase the space from above, and streams of late afternoon light poured into the area, filtering through lush potted plants and trickling fountains. They had lapsed into silence for the past quarter of an hour, but with thoughts of the American boy, Trowa couldn't help but wonder about something.

"Yes, Trowa?"

"I hate to disturb the peace, but have you seen Duo or Heero all day? I know the palace is huge, but I would have expected that we would see or hear them tearing around _sometime_ during our wandering…"

Quatre looked quizzically thoughtful. "You know, you're right. That is rather odd. Did they mention to you any plans for the day the last time you saw them?"

"Well… no." Trowa replied. "But I can't imagine they would simply be sitting around in their room all day; not with Duo itching to go exploring and poking around where he probably shouldn't…"

A bubbling laugh escaped Quatre's lips, and his clear blue eyes scrunched closed in mirth. "I don't think I've seen Wufei's pants so twisted since I tried to smuggle a kit fox into a royal meeting a few years back. He hates disorder and chaos. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I haven't had so much disorder and chaos around the palace since that incident."

"I'm sorry." Trowa supplied, but it was with an amused smile. He could tell that Quatre really didn't mind.

"No, it's quite alright." The blonde affirmed. "I actually rather like it. It can get… rather dull around here. Having visitors is a welcome affair, especially when they are all as exciting and unique as all of you." Trowa inclined his head in thanks for the compliment.

For another few minutes, the trickling sound of the fountains was all that filled the otherwise silent room, and Quatre leaned back on his hands, bumping shoulders with Trowa. The brunet stiffened at the contact, but didn't otherwise react, trying to gauge if the move had been purposeful or not. When the blonde made mo move to retract the contact, Trowa settled into it, stomache shifting uneasily at how… _companionable_ the whole situation was. He really didn't ever want it to end, but he knew that of he stayed much longer, it would only make the inevitable departure that much more difficult. Figuring he ought to inform their host of the impending removal of visitors, Trowa turned his head to speak, only to find crystal blue eyes meeting his at very close range.

Choking a bit on his own mouth, Trowa's green eyes widened in surprise at the close proximity. Swallowing reflexively, Trowa parted his lips to attempt some sort of stammered apology or explanation, or maybe just some random topic of conversation, but he found himself unable to form words. Quatre was just… just _looking_ at him, so intently and so focused, that Trowa found it impossible to break whatever sort of connection had formed between them in that moment. Dragging his focus away from the other boy's crystal blue eyes, Trowa shifted his attention lower, to the blonde's lips. They were parted slightly as well, and a pink tongue swept across them, wetting them, before Quatre nervously bit down on his lower lip. Trowa was sure the other male heard his breath hitch, and he looked back up to meet Quatre's eyes, to try and figure out what the other was thinking.

Shakily pulling in a breath, the blonde's eyes fluttered closed, and Trowa was sure that in that moment, the world stopped. But it couldn't have, he realized a second later, because Quatre was tentatively parting his lips once more, and Trowa switched to autopilot, letting his own eyelids close as he slowly moved forward. Everything was completely still apart from the trickling of the fountains and the ruffling of feathers as a few of the room's live inhabitants stirred from their perches in the foliage. It was perfect. Absolutely, utterly, wondrously…

"HOLY CRAP, TROWA, YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT ME AND HEERO FOUND!"

…_ruined_.

Snapping out of the daze that he had fallen into, Trowa looked up to see Duo charging into the room, scaring the tethered birds by the door. Heero was not far behind him, and a jangling bell could be heard, although Trowa couldn't identify what it's source was. Certainly Heero of all people didn't _jingle_.

"What did you find?" Trowa inquired in response to Duo's outburst, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. What he had been about to do was probably very foolish and the result of misinterpreting a situation, but damn if he hadn't been close to getting a taste of what he had been longing to experience all day.

"I'd say they found the tomb." Quatre supplied with a quirked smile. The unibanged brunet cast a sideways glance at him. Well then. Quatre certainly was doing a good job of acting like nothing had been about to happen. Maybe Trowa had simply imagined the whole thing after all.

"Uh… why do you say that?" Duo evasively asked, apparently not having registered Quatre's presence in the room. No doubt he was worried that he had gotten himself somewhere that he didn't belong… _again_. Quatre's light laugh eased the tension, and Duo smiled in relief as the prince explained his reasoning.

"Well you're covered in dust, look rather guilty about something, and it seems as though you've brought the cat." The sound of a tinkling bell clipped through the air, and Trowa saw that it was attached to a cat that had been trotting at Heero's heels. "She usually slinks around there during the day, to look for mice and bugs to prey on. She's quite the little hunter." Affectionately scratching the feline behind the ears, Trowa fondly sighed. Quatre was such a patient, amazing person, and his palace was so full of life. Even in the musty old tombs there were beautiful living things creeping around.

"Oh." Duo replied, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, uh… yeah. We found the tomb. AND TROWA!" It seemed as though the braided boy had regained his previous enthusiasm as he returned his attention to his friend. "Trowa, there was all sorts of cool stuff in there, but then the door closed and we got locking in and it was so freaking dark and the cat was creeping around but we didn't know what it was, and then Heero saved the day!"

"Idiot, there was nothing to be saved from." Heero put in with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah, but it was _dark_!" Duo indignantly retorted, insisting on sticking by his version of the events. "So Heero got us back to the door and it was like… _stuck_ or something! And so we were fumbling around, and one of us must have hit something, because the next thing you know this _other_ door opens up and light is coming out of it so we check it out and guess what! It leads out into the back gardens, isn't that freaking _sweet_?! It's like a secret escape!"

Quatre was laughing by the end of the recounted tale, and Trowa shook his head in amusement. "You guys didn't break too much, fumbling around in there, right?"

"Uh…"

"No." Heero supplied. "I kept hold of him after the lights went out, and I made sure he didn't crash into anything."

"Yeah, Heero held on _reeeeeal_ good." Duo concurred with a grin that looked far too mischievous for it's own good. Trowa was about to ask what the American meant by that, but before he could, Heero was shutting the shorter boy up with an irritated glower.

"_ANY_ways, it was really cool." Duo concluded. "You should check it out tomorrow, Trowa, because I think you'd really –"

"Actually, I was thinking we would be leaving tomorrow." Trowa suddenly announced, surprising even himself. He certainly hadn't meant to be so blunt in raising the suggestion, but he had suddenly not wanted to hear about any more future plans on things to do around the palace, as if being there was something to grow used to.

"Wha… but… but why!" Duo questioned, looking shocked and hurt. "This place is so great!" Trowa honestly didn't know how to respond to that, but luckily Heero stepped in for him.

"Trowa's right, Duo, we need to be leaving soon. We're needed back at home, I'm sure, and we wouldn't want to overstay our welcome."

At the last bit of Heero's reasoning, all eyes turned to Quatre, who had an understanding smile in place, although it looked a little strained. "I assure you, your continued presence here is a delight and no bother, but I certainly understand that you have your own home and your own lives to go back to. I can talk to Wufei tonight and if you all get to bed early I can arrange an early morning departure for you."

"Awwwww…" Duo whined, head downcast. "All right…"

"Thank you, Quatre." Trowa stiffly replied, and Heero added in a confirming nod. All of a sudden everything was so final, so abruptly coming to an end. Standing, Trowa cleared his throat and smoothed out the front of his pants. "Well then, uh, it's getting late, we should probably get packing up."

"This totally sucks." Duo put in, and Heero elbowed him in reprimand.

"Come on, Duo, let's go get out room sorted out."

Trowa watched his two friends leave the room, and even after they left he couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze away from the empty doorway. To do so would mean facing Quatre, and at the moment he was too confused to even know how to approach the situation.

"So then I suppose –"

"I better go pack my things." Trowa cut in, not wanting to hear Quatre out. He couldn't excuse his rude behaviour, but he knew enough to attribute it to the torn feelings he had about what leaving would bring him. On the one hand, he had his home to go back to, where he could try and forget about all that he had discovered in Arabia. But on the other hand… he really didn't want to leave at all, even if staying here was beginning to hurt more with every passing day.

So in his own selfish, childish way, Trowa was cutting himself off from Quatre, and every feeling he had attached to the palace. Because really, if he was to be honest with himself, he never wanted to leave. It was irrational, yes, but he couldn't help it. And so, striding purposefully from the room, Trowa went to gather his belongings.

Dinner that night was a quiet affair. Duo was still sulking about leaving, Quatre was making attempts at polite conversation, but since neither Trowa was doing his own version of sulking, and Heero and Wufei were never the most enthusiastic conversationalists anyways, for the most part the large dining room was filled with only the sounds of clattering plates, drinking glasses, and eating utensils.

After their last meal in the palace was over with, Trowa stopped by Duo and Heero's room to make sure they had gotten themselves ready to leave.

"You guys all packed up and ready to go?" he asked, peeking in the door. Duo was shoving articles of clothing into a bag, while Heero was neatly folding and organizing his own belongings, packing them precisely and efficiently.

"Yeah, we're getting' there." Duo dejectedly replied. Trowa was sympathetic to the braided boy's disappointment at leaving, but refused to show his own. Nodding his approval to the both of them, he headed up to his own room, intent on getting his things put away in preparation for the next day's departure.

It was a lonely trip up to his room, and Trowa took a final look through the hallways and corridors that led to his temporary residence. Lost in thought as he made his way through the deserted halls, Trowa nearly jumped out of his skin when Quatre suddenly appeared before him, illuminated in the flickering light coming from the torches fixed onto the walls.

"_Shit_!" Trowa swore, hand clutching his chest. "Quatre, you scared the hell out of me!"

"Sorry." The small blonde apologized, slinking forward. "I just wanted to catch you before you settled in for the night…"

"Ah." Was Trowa's less-than-eloquent response. After the afternoon's almost-kiss which he wasn't sure had even actually transpired or had been a figment of his imagination, Trowa wasn't sure how to act around the prince. Quatre was certainly doing a good job of acting as though nothing had happened, and Trowa was attempting to do the same, although it was having a taxing affect on his sanity.

"So, you… enjoyed your stay?" Quatre asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"…yes." Trowa carefully answered. "It was… above and beyond what I was expecting. Thank you for having us."

Quatre nodded, taking another step forward. "It was my pleasure. Really."

They were only about a foot apart now, Quatre looking straight up into Towa's eyes, searching. Trowa awkwardly cleared his throat, shifting his eyes to glance aside. What was Quatre playing at?

"It was wonderful getting to know you." The blonde was continuing. "I don't have visitors very often, let alone ones my own age, so to have you here was a rare pleasure. I'm honoured to send my Oryx home with you. Thank you, Trowa."

"Uh, yes. You're welcome."

They stood there awkwardly for another minute or so, before Quatre stepped back, looking contemplative and not nearly as cheerful as Trowa had grown accustomed to. "Alright then." Quatre concluded. "Have… have a nice evening, I guess…"

The small prince turned to walk away, but before he could even think about what he was doing, Trowa's hand shot out, latching onto Quatre's wrist and keeping him from leaving.

"Trowa…?"

Tugging the blonde back with a harsh jerk, Trowa could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest. What was he _doing_? His brain was having a hard time catching up to his actions, and Quatre's eyes were so wide and blue as they stared up to him. Surprise and questioning was written all over the smaller boy's features, and before Trowa had a chance to second guess what he was doing, he tugged Quatre flush against himself, leaning down to crush his lips to those of the prince.

"Mmnff!"

Ignoring Quatre's startled, muffled sound, Trowa smoothly meshed their lips together, tilting his head to get the best possible angle. Nudging Quatre up against the wall, Trowa pressed forward, enjoying the feeling of their bodies pressed so closely against eachother. Sighing into the kiss, Trowa carefully smoothed his thumb over the sensitive skin on the inside of Quatre's wrist. Panting heavily, Trowa nudged a knee between the blonde's legs, and a muffled whimper escaped Quatre's lips. The sound broke Trowa out of his haze, and with shock he moved back, marveling in horror at what he was doing.

"I… I… goodnight."

Trowa hastily retreated into his room, slamming the door and collapsing back against it with a sigh, sliding down it's polished surface as his legs gave out underneath him.

What. Had. He. _Done_?

In numb shock, Trowa went through the movements of packing his belongings, his mind completely unfocused on the task at hand as his mind whirled in a million different directions. As soon as he had double and triple checked to make sure he was packed and ready to leave, he collapsed in an exhausted heap into the plush, warm bed. He was left with a million doubts and worries and regrets, but with the relief of knowledge that this whole place would be left behind come the following morning, Trowa managed to calm himself into a state of being able at least minimally control his panicked thoughts enough to relax into a state that was conducive for falling asleep.

As he drifted off, he reflected on what this journey had held for him. At first it had all been so new and almost overwhelming, but the longer he had stayed, the more familiar and comfortable it had become. And yet… there was still always a part of him that was not completely integrated into the palace life, and most likely never would be. And Quatre… beautiful, kind, mysterious Quatre. What a mess Trowa had made of that situation. No doubt the prince would never want to see him again, and he would never again be welcome back into Arabia, let alone the prince's palace.

Oddly enough, he was glad he had created that break, because it wouldn't due to become attached. Trowa's life was all about swift, constant movement and acclimation, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. It probably wasn't healthy to sabotage feelings of stability and attachment, but it was the only way Trowa knew how to deal with the imminence of leaving. He just wished he'd had been able to put it off a little longer; wished he'd had some way to delay the inevitable…

As he slipped into sleep, Trowa wondered what ever happened to the girl at the end of the 1001 Arabian Nights, and the brunet lamented the fact that he would never be able to hear Quatre tell it to him.

**...o.O.o…**

"Come on, come on, let's get moving."

It was barely even light out, and Wufei's commanding voice sliced through the clear morning air, sounding authoritative and slightly irritated by the incompetence of his charges. Heero was doing well with getting their packs tied up to the camels, but Trowa was fidgety and distracted, and Duo was a yawning mess, alternating between falling asleep on his feet and complaining about having to leave.

"Yeah, yeah, we're moving." Duo grumbled, hoisting a pack up to his saddle, allowing Heero to help him tie it.

Trowa desperately looked around, keeping an eye out for Quatre. Surely the prince would come out to see them off… wouldn't he?

"Barton."

Trowa looked up at the clipped use of his last name. "Yes, Wufei?"

He had thought he was going to get reprimanded by the prince's right hand man for not getting everything hitched up fast enough, but instead the Asian boy was standing there holding a fine lead which had been fastened to an elaborate harness that adorned the gift oryx's head.

"We must tie him to your saddle, he will be walking beside us for the journey." Wufei informed him, and Trowa nodded.

"Oh right, of course."

Moving out of the way, Trowa watched as the dark haired male expertly tied the creature to the saddle of Trowa's camel. Stepping back after he was done, he looked the oryx over before turning to Trowa.

"This is a very fine selection from the prince's herd. Did he happen to mention to you which oryx was chosen to be your gift?"

"Uh…" Trowa nervously replied, trying to come up with the name under Wufei's sharp scrutiny. "I believe he said this was Malik."

Wufei's eyes widened a fraction, almost imperceptibly. "Malik." He repeated. "And did the prince happen to tell you the significance of this name, given to this specific creature?"

Trowa was a little thrown by the attention Wufei was paying to this matter. "No… he didn't."

"Malik." Wufei began "Means 'servant of the master.' This oryx was hand raised by the prince, nearly to the point of being a housepet. This creature is very loyal and well trained, he is the prince's favourite animal."

Trowa was taken aback. Quatre's favourite? But then why would he just give it away?

"This is a great honour." Wufei informed him. "By the giving of this oryx, the prince has deemed _you_ the master of his most prized possession. This creature will serve you just as it served him, with loyalty and trust and excellence. Take care of this beast as you would the prince's own heart."

And with that he left, going back to his own fine Arabian steed and leaving Trowa standing in shock, one hand loosely holding the pack he had been about to strap onto his camel. Why on earth would Quatre…

With a low bray, the oryx nuzzled Trowa with its soft nose, breaking him out of his daze. Continuing to pack, lost in thought, Trowa puzzled over why someone who barely knew him would entrust him with something of such importance.

But by some means they managed to get everything together in under an hour, and hoisting themselves up onto their humped beasts of travel, all four of them headed out into the open desert, seeking the nearest city of commerce that would contain an airport that could get Trowa, Heero, and Duo back where they belonged.

Somehow Trowa had managed to forget how long and boring the journey over the sands was. And after experiencing the luxury of the palace the sands only seemed impossibly _more_ barren, more desolate, more infuriatingly devoid of colour and life than ever before. Trowa's thoughts drifted back to Quatre, and he wondered over the blonde's absence that morning when they had been leaving. No doubt it was in direct correlation with the unibanged boy's actions the previous night. Trowa completely understood why the prince would not want to be in his presence, and thus didn't come see them off, but Duo loudly questioned the lack of the blonde. Heero had seen Trowa look uncomfortable at the inquiry and had thankfully shut him up, and that along with Wufei's explanation that the prince was a busy man and had many other obligations to attend to cleared suspicion, but Trowa still felt his stomache twist in unease. He felt like he needed some sort of closure, to just see Quatre one last time before he left that world forever.

Instead, Trowa had forlornly looked back at the palace walls as they grew smaller and smaller in the distance. The little oasis already seemed like such a distant illusion, and after a while Trowa couldn't take it anymore, and he faced forward on his camel, leaving the palace and it's prince behind.

Glancing down to the side, Trowa looked over the young oryx that was tied to his mount's saddle with a silken lead. It was almost a source of amusement how well the creature went along with their little procession. It was hard to fathom a leash-trained oryx, but of anyone would have done it, Trowa was sure it would have been Quatre. The young creature dutifully kept up with their convoy, occasionally shaking its horns or snuffling as it flicked its tail. Despite his current qualms with thoughts that dwelled on Quatre for too long, Trowa couldn't help but be reminded of the boy while looking at the generous gift.

Quatre… Trowa's chest clenched at the remembrance of how quickly attached he had become in so little time, and how much he had wound up screwing things over in the end.

In his dreams the previous night, Trowa could remember sheer silks and dim lighting and expanses of smooth, bare skin. It was all a jumble of visuals and sounds, but Trowa understood what it amounted to, and he would be an idiot to not understand what it meant. He wanted Quatre. Badly. The Oryx at his side paled in comparison to the raw beauty and quiet power of the blonde prince.

Aforementioned oryx chose that moment to let out a long bay, making sure no one forgot about its presence. Trowa let himself smile fondly at the creature. It was young and full of personality, and it reminded him very strongly of the prince himself.

Before long the sun was fully risen, the rays reflecting off of the golden sand and creating nearly unbearable heat and light. It didn't take very long for the three comrades to shuck off their shirts, tying them around their heads in a makeshift headdress of some sort, in an attempt to battle the heat. Wufei, still in the traditional garb of the culture, rode silently at the head of their caravan, looking unaffected in the least by the intense sun and endless stretches of sand and sky. Trowa kept to the back, lost in his own thoughts. Occasionally he would glance down to his side to see how the oryx was fairing, but this was its natural environment, and the sun and continuous walking seemed to have little effect on it. The more Trowa observed the creature, the harder it became to not associate it with what he had left behind, and with a sudden jerk Trowa forced himself to look away, not wanting to take out his negative feelings on the gift that he had been lucky enough to receive, and which he would be seeing every day for quite a while as a part of circus life.

"Trowa!"

Glancing up, Trowa saw that the rest of the group was quite a distance ahead, and Duo was waving him forward. Urging his camel forward, Trowa caught up to the group.

"Yo, Tro!" Duo greeted with a grin as Trowa pulled up alongside the pair. "Me an' Heero were starting to wonder if you were running low on gas or something back there. Need to stop in at the next station and fill 'er up?"

"Ha ha ha." Trowa replied in perfect monotone, unable to help the slight upwards quirking of lips that Duo always seemed to have the power to bring about, no matter how dire the situation. "Very funny, Duo." Heero let out a snort of complete unamusement at the banter, urging his mount forward to escape from the idiocy which was Duo. The braided boy rolled his eyes, still grinning, and watched the slight bounce to Heero's retreating figure before turning his attention back to Trowa, his expression sobering slightly.

"But really, Trowa… you alright? Cause like… I know you've gotta be pretty hurting right now, but it's not showing and it's no good to keep everything bottled up inside until it explodes, you know?"

Trowa looked away, unable to keep his eyes locked on to Duo's searching gaze. He wasn't… he wasn't brooding exactly, he was just… keeping it to himself. He had hoped that the braided boy wouldn't notice, because he certainly wasn't ready to answer any questions on the subject. In fact, he wasn't even sure what made Duo so confident in his analysis of 'you've gotta be pretty hurting right now' even though it apparently wasn't showing. How much did Duo know, and how had he gone about finding it out?

"I'm fine, Duo." Trowa assured his friend, and although the younger male didn't look convinced, he let the subject drop and left Trowa to his thoughts by catching up to Heero, who didn't look pleased at the arrival of company.

The Latin male chose to lag behind again. Risking another tentative glance at the Oryx, looking gentle and cooperative even with its rope harness tugging it along whether it wanted to go or not, Trowa couldn't help but let his thoughts wander back to how this whole fiasco had begun, and how he never in a million years would have expected it to play out the way it did. He was torn between wishing it had never even happened, and staying firm in the decision that he wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world.

The reason he was being so very bitter and dwelling so much, he reasoned, was because he had never realized before what it was to get so attached to something stable, something you couldn't just pack up and bring with you wherever you went. As well, being at the palace was the first time he had ever truly felt like he had found somewhere that he wouldn't want to leave. It was beautiful and exotic and fascinating and mysterious… much like it's young prince. Trowa had given it his best shot, but the sad truth was that he and Quatre came from two completely different kinds of lives. Quatre was a prince in a palace in an exotic, faraway land, and Trowa was a circie, living day to day, location to location, playing with knives which should have been so dangerous, if not for the fact that it was all rehearsed, fake, an act…

"Hey Trowa."

Surprised, Trowa looked up to find that Duo had pulled his mount around, and was lagging up to wait for Trowa. The brunet urged his camel forward, and pulled alongside the braided boy once more. Heero and Duo were a ways ahead, riding silently. Duo fidgeted in his saddle, eager to have someone to talk to, Trowa guessed.

"What is it, Duo?"

"Man, Heero's got some sand stuck in his vagina or something, cause he told me to stop talking his ear off and go see what was up with you again. What an ass, that guy." It was said fondly, though, so Trowa couldn't help but smile at Duo's way of talking about their friend. "Anyways, are you _still_ back here moping? Little Mr. Short Blonde and Princely not put out for your going away party or something?"

Eyes widening to the size of saucers, Trowa would have stopped where he was, had they been walking together on foot rather than mounted on camels. As it was, he stayed alongside of Duo, unable to workup a response to that. Did Duo know what had happened last night? Had his fixation with Quatre been too obvious during their stay? Or had Duo just made some random teasing joke to put out there, and now Trowa's shocked response was giving him away?

Duo's grin fell. "Oh geeze, man, crap… Tro, I'm sorry." He quickly apologized. "I, uh, shit man, I thought you knew, I was just joking around…"

"Knew?" Trowa vaguely replied, his mind whirling with confusion. What was Duo getting at? "Thought I knew what?"

"I…" Duo started to look suspiciously confused, as though he thought Trowa was being deliberately difficult. "Trowa, come on, I thought it was obvious, right?"

"What was?"

"Well… well _shit_ man, Blondie totally had the hots for you! Me and Heero noticed it almost right from the start… I, uh… assumed you'd noticed too, what with all the time you were spending with him…"

Trowa's mind was reeling, and this time he really did pull his camel to a stop, the oryx pausing alongside it and giving a low call across the sands at the change in pace. Wufei looked back at the sound, and Heero as well. Sensing that something was going on, they turned their mounts around, heading back to re-form the group. Trowa noticed none of this though, his focus half on Duo beside him, and half lost in a whirl of thoughts and emotions.

"I… Duo, are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure." Duo answered carefully. "Me and Heero thought you knew, that's why we gave you so much space…" Here Duo paused, looking carefully at his brunet companion. "Trowa… we thought last night when we all turned in early… we saw him head upstairs when you came to check in on us… Didn't he meet you at your room?"

Trowa nodded fuzzily, feeling light headed.

"Well we thought… me and Heero… we thought it was because, you know, he wanted to sleep with you. Because it was your last night there… Trowa… what _happened_ last night?"

Just as Duo asked that, Wufei and Heero pulled up to create a group huddle, trying to figure out what was wrong. All of the blood had drained from Trowa's face, and a look of complete and utter shock was etched upon his features. He didn't say anything for a moment, couldn't bring himself to form words, but finally, gaze unfocused and unseeing, he made a decision.

"I have to go back."

For a moment no one responded, but inevitably Duo just had to be the one to speak up and put in his two cents. "Go back? Trowa, what do you mean? We can't just… I mean you were the one who wanted to… I mean, I wanna go back too, but the arrangements have already been ma–"

"I've gotta go back." Trowa repeated, quickly snapping into action and untying the oryx's lead from his saddle, handing it to Heero. "You guys… you guys go ahead, make sure this gets to Cathy, but I just… I have to…"

"Wait."

All action paused as Wufei guided his Arabian steed alongside Trowa's camel, searching the unibanged boy with an intense gaze. Trowa was sure he was about to be told that he couldn't go back, that it was forbidden and unreasonable, but instead Wufei merely nodded, seeming to come to a decision of some sort.

Slipping off of his mount and motioning for Trowa to do the same, Wufei extended the reins of his stallion to Trowa. "Take him." He said. "He is swift and has the endurance to get you back at the pace you are desiring."

Trowa was shocked, and for a moment even forgot the reason why he needed to get back to the palace. Why would Wufei, who barely even knew him, entrust him with his own –

"I trust you," Wufei said, as if he could read Trowa's thoughts. "Because Prince Quatre trusts you. Go."

With a nod, Trowa accepted the reins, quickly mounting his new steed. The Arabian Stallion had no bags or packs weighing it down, so Trowa was able to spur the horse into action quite quickly, it's hooves pounding over the desert sand. Only once did he look back, to see his friends watching him off, Wufei merely mounting Trowa's camel and resuming his role as group leader on a different beast of transport. The brunet felt a slight pang of guilt for leaving them on such a whim, especially when even Heero waved him a goodbye, but more than his guilt, a strong need to get back to the palace drove him onward, back to where he had departed from.

Since leaving the castle in the early hours of morning, they had traveled for several hours. The Arabian mount got Trowa back in a fraction of that time, the sounds of rushing air and pounding hooves providing a steady background to Trowa's thoughts. What was he going to do upon arriving back at the castle? Would he even still be welcome? Had Duo and Heero been right in their suspicions that Quatre wanted him? It was all up in the air, but with a drive and longing and determination that he had not experienced in quite some time, Trowa pushed forward, acting on instinct and the desire to get back to where he felt his heart belonged.

He was lucky that the palace guards recognized him as well as Wufei's steed, for it meant that he was let right in with no questions. The blonde male that Wufei had been working with took the horse from him as soon as Trowa had clattered into the courtyard and dismounted, and Trowa was grateful for that, for he was sure he wouldn't have had the patience to see the animal properly to the stables himself.

Dashing into the grand palace, all of the fine things rushed by him in a blur. He saw none of the treasures and wonders along the walls or propped on pedestals; his mind was focused on only one thing, and his eyes were unseeing as he sprinted on autopilot through the corridors and up the stairs to the prince's chambers. He didn't know how he knew that was where he would find the prince, but it was calling to him, and not questioning it, he made quick work of getting to his destination.

Flinging open the doors, Trowa entered the royal chambers with a bang. Glancing around the entry room where he had taken brunch with the blonde, Trowa could see no sign of the prince. His heart sank, and he was on the verge of calling out when a slight movement to his side caught his eye.

There on a plush silken sofa surrounded by draperies sat Quatre. He was wearing garments that so perfectly matched his surroundings, it was no wonder Trowa hadn't spotted him. Stepping further into the room, Trowa never once took his eyes off of the prince as he made his way over to the place where Quatre sat.

"T-Trowa?" came the quiet, startled query. Quatre's blue eyes were wide and full of swirling emotions, and although he looked almost trapped as Trowa approached him, he made no move to get away. "What… what are you doing here? I thought you and your friends had left hours ago…"

"I came back." Trowa replied, not stopping, even as the distance between him and the blonde lessened to mere feet.

"Well I… I must say I'm quite surprised. What brings you ba–"

Before Quatre could so much as finish his sentence, Trowa had dropped into his lap, straddling the prince, and crashed his lips onto the parted ones of the blonde. With a muffled sound of surprise, Quatre quickly brought his hands up to Trowa's upper arms, grabbing on with shaking fingers. Trowa weaved his own through soft blonde locks, tilting Quatre's head back a bit to take full advantage of the kiss. When Quatre whimpered into their exchange, Trowa pulled back, not wanting to have hurt or scared the smaller boy.

"I… Quatre, I…" he belatedly began, attempting to explain his actions.

"I'm so glad you came back, Trowa." Quatre whispered, making the need for apology dissipate. "I… didn't think I was ever going to see you again. I couldn't bring myself to come down to see you off this morning, because I thought… maybe you didn't… that last night hadn't really meant…"

"Quatre, I think I love you."

The blonde's eyes filled with indescribable emotion as he looked back to Trowa, who was still situation on his lap. "Trowa, I… I think I love you too."

In a flurry of movement, Trowa pushed forward, pulling the smaller male up against himself and holding them so close together that they could feel the other's heartbeat. Lips crashed together in a desperate attempt to be closer, feel more, explore every bit of the other person that was physically possible. Quatre began struggling beneath Trowa, and the brunet moved off, only to be frantically tugged up. Standing now, Quatre pulled Trowa back into a kiss as he began to move backwards, leaving Trowa no choice but to follow. And Trowa did so, happily. Everything was happening so fast, but it was all so good that he couldn't think to question it.

Suddenly they were in a darkened room, illuminated only by a few decoratively placed candles. Trowa only had time to register thick silks and sheer draperies before he was getting pushed back onto a plush surface that was more comfortable than anything he had ever before experienced. Quatre clambered right on top of him, laying himself across the taller boy and greedily pressing every inch of their bodies together. Trowa groaned, arching up and grabbing into what he assumed was Quatre's bedding, as he vaguely took the time to register that they must be in the blonde's room.

Quatre sealed their lips together but moved off of Trowa enough that he could have room to start divesting clothing. Starting with the shirt Trowa had wrapped around his head, the article was cast aside before small hands began working on the buckle of the lanky male's pants. Groaning, Trowa pressed his hips upward at the touch, and to allow for better access, even as his own hands moved to divest Quatre of his own garments which, sheer as they were, suddenly seemed like much too frustratingly obstructing.

It didn't take long for all clothing to be removed, and Quatre spread himself over Trowa, clinging tightly and shivering from emotion. Trowa was too overwhelmed to immediately respond with anything more than a moan of appreciation of the skin-to-skin contact, but before he could bring himself to do anything more, Quatre was acting for the both of them, rolling over onto his back next to Trowa and tugging the older boy over on top of him.

With a low groan of appreciation of Quatre's enthusiasm and assertion, Trowa fit their bodies together, aligning their hips and giving an experimental push. Crying out with a keening whimper of pleasure, Quatre eagerly rocked back up, eyes scrunched closed at the intensity of the feeling. A rhythm built up as both boys writhed against eachother, Trowa slipping a leg between Quatre's own and prompting the blonde to enthusiastically push up against it in a frantic pumping movement. Slick skin slid wonderfully as they rutted together in mindless passion, and their frantic moans and cries filled the room, occasionally muffled or silenced during their wet, heated kisses.

Neither of them lasted very long. Quatre came first, desperately crying out as he jerkily pushed himself against Trowa's leg, and his spasming pleasure, along with the burst of wet heat that splattered against Trowa's hip, was enough to send the unibanged boy over the edge as well. They collapsed against eachother, panting heavily and weakly continuing to press their hips together, but before long all they could manage to do was lie together in a tangle of slick, intertwined limbs, breaths mingling as they came down from their high.

"Trowa…" Quatre was the first to speak, laboured breathing making his words light and airy.

"Quatre." Trowa replied, overwhelmed at how wonderful it felt to simply say the other boy's name, lying entangled like this.

"I'm glad you came back." The blonde told him.

"I'm glad too." Trowa replied. "I'm glad you wanted me to come back." They lay in silence for another minute before Trowa was the one to speak up again, suddenly realizing something. "Quatre, I left your oryx with the others. I… I'm sorry, I know you gave it to me, but I came back here so fast that I didn't think… I – I'm sure the other's are keeping it safe, but I know you wanted me to be the one to keep it… And now I have no way of telling Wufei and the others to bring it back here, and –"

"Trowa." Quatre cut in, effectively ending Trowa's tirade, which had started to become slightly panicked. "It's fine. I told Wufei that if there were any complications, that he would make sure that Malik got back to you no matter what."

"But then what –"

"I'm sure everyone will be back here in a few hours, and then we can all figure out what to do."

Trowa pulled back, propping himself up on his elbows over Quatre. "So… they're coming back here? To the palace?" Quatre nodded.

"Malik is to stay with you, and since Wufei knows that you are here, this is where he will bring him."

"I… so…" Trowa was lost in his own thoughts for a moment before he began to chuckle. "So we're all going to be back here again?"

Quatre smiled back up at him, sweetly. "Yes, you'll all be back here again."

"I…" Trowa frowned. "Quatre, I don't want to leave."

The prince's smile didn't falter as he reached up to cup the side of Trowa's face, planting a brief kiss to the brunet's lips. "I don't want you to leave either."

A million thoughts of complications whirled through Trowa's mind, but after a moment he shook his head, clearing them. They could be dealt with later. For now he simply wanted to enjoy laying with Quatre and basking in their afterglow. Resting his head on a pillow beside the blonde's face, he closed his eyes and marveled over the simplicity of their chests rising and falling against eachother for a few minutes before speaking up again.

"Quatre, how does the story end?"

"The story?"

"The story of the 1001 Arabian Nights."

Opening his eyes, Quatre was only a few inches away, looking right back at him. "You sure you want me to tell you right now, instead of listening to the whole thing?"

"I… I still want to hear the whole thing." Trowa clarified. "But I just… I want to know how it ended… for the girl."

Quatre smiled, snuggling up to Trowa and tucking his head under the brunet's chin and sighing happily. "I'll tell you the rest of it some other time, then. But as for the end…" Here Trowa took a sharp inhale of breath in anticipation. "She was pardoned."

Trowa let out his breath in a long sigh, glad to hear so. "Then that means… she lived? Her stories kept her alive?"

The two boys shifted into a more comfortable position, and Quatre continued, nodding into Trowa's neck. "She lived. She endeared herself to her captor, and he not only granted her pardon, but gained a whole new outlook on his life."

Trowa smiled, wrapping his arms tightly around Quatre, never wanting to let go. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Mmmn… me too." Quatre sleepily murmured, nuzzling into the dip in Trowa's neck and cuddling into his embrace. "I like happily ever afters."

At that Trowa opened his eyes, looking down at the boy so perfectly entangled with him. He pressed a kiss into the mop of blonde hair before closing his eyes again, utterly content with the world.

"Me too, Quatre." He murmured. "Me too."

**The End**


End file.
